Death Note: The Requiem Revolution
by kleptographer of alternates
Summary: 5 years after the disappearance of Kira, the wealthy but frustrated young Lloyd de Bauer finds a new Death Note which will change him and the world forever! However, Near takes notice and determines to catch him. Post-series, some OCs, please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is inspired by **_**Death Note **_**by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. However it is set after the series and contains several Original Characters. Please take a short moment to leave a review, giving me an impression of your reaction to the story, critical or appreciative!**

**Remember this is a work of fiction! Any and all resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. **___**Possession, reproduction, transmission, excerpting as evidence in court, and all other uses by any government, corporation, law enforcement agency, security organization or similar party of evil intent are strictly prohibited under natural law.**_

**PROLOGUE**

In a dimension not our own, Jebel laid atop a barren crag, her finger absently tracing lines into the shifting sands. Beside her a deep well was bored into the ground, like a breach torn in space, in which another place could be seen, quite different from her dismal surroundings.

Wearily, she surveyed the world around her. The dark skies hung low overhead and a slight wind blew through, scattering sand and dust along its path, merely adding to bleak landscape.

_This world will never change, will it_? The reaper thought to herself.

She turned her attention back to the world revealed in the well but suddenly bolted upright when she saw what was displayed within-- a man with dark hair and glasses straining to move a large crate.

_It's moved!_

For a few moments she continued to gaze into the well, enthralled. Slowly, a smile came to her monstrous features and she spread a pair of membranous wings, excitedly standing to her feet.

_Finally, something interesting!_


	2. Prelude

**PRELUDE**

Slowly, the black limousine made its way along the busy street in the city of London. Within its plush interior sat Lloyd de Bauer, wearing a bland expression on his devastatingly handsome features. For a moment the armored vehicle was forced to halt and through the bullet proof windows he watched as mobs of poor and angry people protested in front of the Parliament building, the well furnished seat of the local government, a formal board of representatives whom the naïve people outside actually believed that they elected to advocate the interests of their families. The usual demands were being raised, revolving in one way or another around better living conditions. Between them, however, stood a thick perimeter of police wearing full body armor and cradling submachine guns in their thick arms, grim-faced and eager to crush any displays of overt dissent. Lloyd shook his head in disgust as a particularly desperate looking man was summarily beaten with a club, splaying his blood across the cold pavement. The sight of the blood seemed to excite the officer and drive him on, causing a frenzy among both the unruly mobs and the police. _If they only knew what their real problems were_, Lloyd mused silently. _I would almost think they would understand by now...  
_

The driver, a man whom Lloyd supposed had almost been bred to serve his family in this way, sounded the horn several times, aggravated by the delay.

Lloyd took his fingers to the computer interface and perused his personal music library. Finding what he was looking for, he played "Venice Violins", a piece composed by Nathan McCree, and laid back into the buttery leather of the seat. He closed his eyes as the the beautiful song streamed out of the crisp digital speakers, a composition of harpsichords, violins, cellos and violas, masterfully arranged into a song that was both energetic and calming.

An hour or so passed during which he had apparently fallen into a light sleep, and just as the last note fell to a smooth finish, his brilliant emerald eyes fluttered open and out of the blackened window he saw his family's Eythrope estate towering high into sky, what he called 'home' for the time being. Hailed as an architectural masterwork, the mansion boasted plenty of rooms, lavishly furnished with pieces of exquisite art and high culture shipped from as far away as Japan. The collection of rare and ancient manuscripts was a peculiar hobby of Lloyd who would periodically purchase more to fill the vaulted rooms of the house. The hamlet rested upon several hundred hectares of land, including beautifully tended gardens filled with myriad specimens of flora. At their flowering in May, they were truly breathtaking to behold.

After passing through the wrought iron gates, the limousine slowed to a stop as it neared the main house, buttressed by stables and dwellings for the servants employed there. Lloyd unlocked the door and stepped out, raising an arm to shield him from the sun which beamed indiscriminately overhead, as he strode to the massive wooden doors.

The strident sound of the nearby Thames River could be heard rushing along its course, bounding the grounds.

"Do you know if my father is at home?" Lloyd asked a servant who was waiting for him at the door. His long raven hair was tied into a braid.

"Not at present, my Lord," the servant replied quickly with practiced etiquette, adjusting his glasses nervously.

Lloyd nodded and began to walk away, but the servant called out, "My lord, the shipment from Bodleian has come in. As the servants are not permitted into your room I had them delivered into the library of the east wing."

Lloyd smiled. "Thank you, I should like to go see them now. Attend to your other duties, I will not need accompaniment."

"Of course, my lord," the servant replied as he took his leave.

**...**

Within the vast library, Lloyd carefully examined the ancient contents of several crates by the light streaming in from the towering windows which surrounded the vaulted room. There were a variety of unique and interesting books within them that would make a fine addition to his collection. _It is strange_, he thought. _That I should have such a hobby… One of the few honest things in this lie that is my life_

Something red caught his eye in the bottom of the crate and he reached in and drew it out. It was a curious book, bound with a red dyed skin which looked rather like blood and filled with several pages worth of sickly tawny material. Opening its cover, he raised his eyebrow as he silently read, "_This is a magickal book. HOW TO USE: The mortal whose name is written in this book shall surely __**die**__._" He flipped through the next several pages adorned with macabre figures of skeletons and scythes etched amid sentences arranged according to Roman numeral. Confused, he returned to the first page and silently read,

"_I._ _If the cause of death is written within the next twenty-five heartbeats since writing the name, it shall surely happen. After writing the cause of death, details of the death must be written within the next five hundred heartbeats. If the cause of death is not written, the heart will simply stop_—"

Lloyd froze and his eyes went wide. _This is!_


	3. Introduction

**INTRODUCTION**

_My name is Lloyd de Bauer and I was born into a world you…may not be aware of._

_Most of the population is concentrated into sprawling cities, toiling long hours in stifling heat, stinking factories and noisy markets for a single thing: money, paid by large corporations which exist to exploit deposits of natural resources throughout the world. They elect professional representatives to advocate their interests through legislation. Ancient elite families like mine invest portions of our vast wealth into the corporations and banks we favor, giving us controlling interest, and, through bribery or __**other less savory **__means, pressure the professional representatives into supporting them to the downfall of those we do not. Over time these ventures generate modest profits which some of our number choose to invest into personal forays like shipping, mass media, arms manufacture, exotic trading, metascientific research, or strip mining, although some pursue baser enterprises like organized crime, drug smuggling, or even child prostitution. I myself control at least 17 different large investments, given to me by my father at only twelve years of age, which I have ran impeccably to great profit since. We carefully distribute these earnings throughout select accounts, tax-exempt foundations and trust funds, away from prying eyes, to maintain the strict secrecy of our enormous holdings, and place scores of agents and couriers, having been given special scholarships and passed rigorous screening, into background positions of finance, government, intelligence and law, where they supply us with firsthand information and controlling influence in important matters. We ourselves live in mansions built upon enormous swathes of land which have been in our families for generations, brought up in wealth and luxury, and encouraged to sire children with our cousins or close relatives within other powerful families to maintain the 'purity' of our line. This system, which our families spent centuries perfecting, concentrates all the real wealth and power into our hands, whilst enslaving the ignorant masses under our puppets, afraid to even whisper our names. And all of this is organized in such subtle but pervasive ways that they do not even realize it._

_Still not afraid? Alright, here is what some prominent figures in history had to say about our kind:_

"Some of the biggest men…in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."  
_(Woodrow Wilson)_

"The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses."  
_(Albert Einstein)_

"The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences… Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."  
_(Caroll Quigley)_

"Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of."  
_(Edward Bernays)_

_I, myself, was born into the powerful de Bauer family, the branch that settled in France (though we had moved to Britain by the time I was born), the son of Salomon and the late Annamarie de Bauer, herself the half-blood daughter of Elrich de Bauer. Our family is intimately involved in international finance, using private centralized banks to create funds without reserves and then loan them to governments, no matter their nature, around the world at high interest, hopelessly indebting them to us and giving us a controlling interest in their operations as well as giving them the ability to engage in as many wars as they please without having to worry about acquiring money through direct taxation and angering their already unruly citizenry any further; the dream of every militarized nation-state. However, the creation of so many funds without actual backing also causes the value of the entire surplus supply of currency to drop, in turn progressively lowering the purchasing power of the people at large and allowing us to make the difference in profit, effectively taxing them outside of the law. _

_My mother, Annamarie, who had endured the disapproval and prejudice of the family her entire marriage both because of her diluted blood and the increasing public exposure she subjected us to in her charity activities, was murdered when I was only eight years old, the apparent victim of terrorism while abroad. i was completely in love with my mother and I used to spend days volunteering with her as she tried to alleviate starvation, cure diseases, and secure freedom-in fact she was the only woman I have ever loved. Her death devastated me and became suspicious of the fact that she was killed while accompanied by armed personal bodyguards, whom terrorists should not have been able to pass without being noticed, if at all. One day I strode up to my father whilst he was hosting a large party, and, amidst the whispers of confused onlookers wearing their expensive clothes and deadly smiles, angrily demanded the reason why he did not protect my mother. The room fell silent and he glared at me, mysteriously replying that, "There is no toleration of weakness among the strong." Horrified, I realized that day that I hated my father. And I hated my family. But I also realized something else: if they had killed my mother, they could easily kill me as well. So I determined to bide my time and hide my hatred. Raised amidst opulent luxury and epicurean glamour in our family mansion, I was privately tutored until the age of twelve, taught to embrace the principles of Social Darwinism, world government, eugenics, interbreeding, monopoly and oligarchy and became fluent in English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese with a moderate knowledge of Italian and Russian, which were only needed on special occasions. However, I would secretly read books on the philosophy of liberty, revolutionary theory, parapolitics, anarchism and the like, hiding my true beliefs from my teachers. I also had a brother, but he committed suicide just a few years ago, although it was kept quiet in the media. That was a very painful thing to endure._

_Once I turned twelve, I was sent to the exclusive private Eton College for several months and later awarded a full scholarship to the University of Oxford, where I completed my degree in only one year, graduating at the age of thirteen, and proceeded to take my place among the elite in the family business where I was held in high esteem for my cunning intellect, ruthless efficiency and uncanny ability to devise and execute strategies with incredible speed and precision as well as my abundant charm which I used to successfully compel others to become my unquestioning allies. My father, proud of my progress, revealed that, despite his initial reservations about me, being the son of a half-blood, I __**would **__be his heir. I smiled as I pondered how when that day came, I would destroy everything he had built._

_After a year, however, the world changed with the appearance of "Kira". Criminals around the world began to mysteriously die, causing a media frenzy. I contacted our agents to find if the High Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in England, or the secret Psychic Warfare Research Division of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Virginia were running some kind of experiment. I searched their records but found nothing of the sort, so I began to carefully examine the victims' profiles to see what I could learn. I quickly realized that all of them had been revealed on television or the internet, with their complete names and photographs. I was quite excited about Kira, hopeful he would use his power to destroy those who had enslaved the world, like my father, and so I tried to find him. However, I was to be disappointed, for I realized that Kira only seemed interested in purging the world of petty criminals and thoughtlessly did so to all who were reported by the media as such, without bothering to check whether or not the accused were actually guilty. He, if he indeed worked alone, was merely a serial killer turned ignorant vigilante of perhaps above average intelligence, I concluded, with no true revolutionary potential. _

_After a few weeks, I was informed by an agent that the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) was investigating the matter and had contacted the famous detective "L" to aid them. Soon, a man claiming to be L under the name "Lind L. Tailor" appeared on a program claiming to be an international broadcast, declaring his resolve to bring Kira to justice. The man, however, collapsed dead on air and audio from the real L revealed that Tailor had been a criminal sentenced to death, whose name and photograph had been concealed, used to test Kira's abilities. He also revealed that while the program claimed to be an international broadcast, it was actually only being shown in the Kanto region of Japan, proving that Kira was hiding in Japan. L dared Kira to kill him, but remained alive. I realized then that I had been right about the victims and I sent one of our agents to infiltrate the Japanese police force and make me aware of any further developments. However, such attempts were frustrated when I was forced to pull the agent out because almost the entire force soon abandoned the case, leaving L with only a handful, among which my agent would be too conspicuous. "Kira" became one of the primary subjects of that year's Bilderberg conference as participants discussed possibilities concerning how Kira killed, resources which could be used to attempt to apprehend him and even if they might try to convince him to become their ally and rid the world of their political and economic enemies. However, I was informed that the director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had died from a heart attack and learned that he had been previously contacted by L to send several agents to Japan to secretly investigate suspects in the Kira case, all of whom, I presumed, were now dead. I attempted to obtain their investigation notes but was informed that they had passed into the possession of L now, whom I knew would not release them._

_So, whilst I continued my career in international finance, primarily through my father's investment firm M.A. Bauer & Family, I merely awaited the next development in the case. I did not have to wait long. A person claiming to be Kira held Sakura TV of Japan hostage to air audio of Kira demanding that world authorities arrest L and put him on television to be killed, proving himself by predicting the imminent deaths of two newscasters who had spoken against Kira before. World authorities seriously considered complying until another message from "Kira" was aired on the same network, this claiming that the previous Kira was a fake and warning the fake Kira not to ruin his reputation and to spare L for the time being. After hearing that, I figured L was undoubtedly behind it as the real Kira would surely want L dead. The first Kira then replied and expressed their desire to meet, using the curious codeword "reaper", and their intention to obey Kira completely, revealing that he had indeed been an impostor all along—but, I realized, an impostor with the same ability to kill as Kira!_

_I continued to follow thebizarre case, updated daily with lists of the known victims from my agents. However, after a few months, I began to notice that among the seemingly random criminals being killed, prominent businessmen and women were also being killed. I compared those deaths with international stock fluctuations and found that the deaths were definitely having an enormous positive effect upon one company, Yotsuba Corporation in Japan. Even more disgusted, I contacted Reiji Namikawa, Vice President of Sales, under a false name, and told them that their murders had not gone unnoticed and I suspected Kira was among them, threatening to deliver this information to L if they did not reveal who Kira was and arrange for a meeting. Predictably, Namikawa professed to have no knowledge of what I was referring to and claimed it was all a coincidence. True to my word, I anonymously sent what I had compiled to L, through a proxy, although I never received a response._

_Weeks later, the names "Kyosuke Higuchi…Shingo Mido…Reiji Namikawa…Elichi Takahashi…Suguru Shimura…Masahiko Kida…and Takeshi Ooi ", all executives of Yotsuba, were buried within the list of confirmed Kira victims that was being regularly sent to me. I realized then that Kira had been likely just using Yotsuba, perhaps to distract L._

_For five years, there were no important updates, though lists of the dead continued to pour in regularly. Also, in that time, Kira had developed quite a large international following, with fan websites numbering in the millions, large crowds gathering for devotional services around the world, and most countries officially "accepting" Kira's existence, posting the names and photographs of the few criminals they caught on the internet for Kira to kill. In addition, the international crime rate had unilaterally dropped by over 70%, a direct result of Kira's spree. It seemed as if we would all have to simply live with Kira from now on._

_But there were some who weren't willing to give up yet. I was informed by an agent from the U.S., that the current President had granted authorization to a mysterious individual known only as "N" to head the newly created Special Provision for Kira (SPK), staffed by handpicked elites from the CIA, FBI and Secret Service, whose goal was to catch Kira without L's help because L had died, although his death had been covered up by the NPA who had replaced him with a fake L. This was quite a surprise to me and I wondered if Kira had in fact killed L after all._

_However, the U.S. President soon committed suicide and the Vice President announced the nation's formal acceptance of Kira, causing a national scandal, and the dissolution of the SPK. It was then that I concluded that Kira had the ability to kill with means other than heart attacks; for the death of the President was simply too convenient for him. Seeking to expose the SPK to Kira, Sakura TV organized a mob of Kira worshippers and surrounded their headquarters in New York City, but chaos ensued when large sums of U.S. dollars were dropped into the crowd from the sky, allowing, at least, N, to escape._

_Things were quiet until the next year, when Kira killed the cast of the embarrassing "Kira's Kingdom" television program and NHN reporter Kiyomi Takada, was anointed Kira's spokesperson by Sakura TV. However, she was publicly kidnapped by two unidentified men. The first was executed by her guards but the second managed to escape with Takada, both of whom were later found dead within a burning church, I assumed, also eliminated by Kira. Attempting to investigate Takada's associates to see if there were any contacts to Kira among them, I was given records of Takada's cellular phone records from her service provider and found several calls to an unidentified number, which I found was registered to Teru Mikami, a public prosecutor in the Japanese legal system. I felt like I was getting close, but suddenly Mikami disappeared, making me wonder if Kira had killed him to cover himself._

_Unsure if I would ever learn the truth of Kira, the world eventually noticed later that year that the killings had suddenly ceased. With both L and apparently Kira missing, we were left wondering just what had happened, even leading some amateur investigators to suggest that L and Kira were actually the same all along. I wondered if perhaps Teru Mikami had been Kira after all or merely another red herring. But no definitive answers were forthcoming._

_There were far too many unanswered questions:_

_How could multiple people have Kira's power?_

_What had happened to the real L?_

_Who was Kira?_

_And just how exactly did Kira kill?_

_Where was Kira now?_

_I tried to contact N, who was now operating under the name of L, which I knew to be a ruse from before, to learn if he knew, but was informed by one of his subordinates, Rester, I believe, that "L" knew no more than I did and would not investigate the matter any further._

_With the refreshing distraction of Kira apparently finished, I turned my attention to other matters for two years, becoming one of the most powerful men in the world; my words causing the rise and fall of nations, though always hidden in the background, but still no closer to my true desires. _

_However, with the arrival of the third year, that was all about to change…_


	4. FRUSTRATION

**FRUSTRATION**

Carefully, Lloyd tucked the mysterious book into his coat and exited the library, his feet swift and silent across the sparkling but cold floors.

Along the way, he was met by one the servants just crossing through one of the archways.

"I am retiring for a while and am **not **to be disturbed, understood?" Lloyd commanded.

"Of course, my lord!" the servant replied hastily.

"Inform the others as well," Lloyd added over his shoulder as he gripped the bannister and began his ascent up the long, ornate staircase. Coming to his spacious bedroom above, he closed the door securely and removed his coat to sit down at the large African Blackwood desk, laying the book upon its smooth surface.

Turning the book open once more, he read again, "_If the cause of death is not written, the heart will simply stop._"

"Heart attacks," he muttered softly. His keen mind thought back to what he had learned while studying Kira, suggesting different possible explanations.

_Kira killed using a name and photograph, causing heart attacks, although on at least one occasion with means other than heart attacks, in the suicide of the former U.S. President._

_At least two separate individuals killed as Kira._

_The word "reaper", translated from the Japanese "shinigami", literally "god of death", was a code word which bore distinct meaning to both individuals._

_That was all._

Lloyd turned his attention back to the strange book on his desk and continued reading. "_II. After writing the cause of death, details must be writ within the next five hundred heartbeats." Roughly…just over six minutes. _"_III. Within twenty-five heartbeats after writing a cause of death, the time of death can be chosen and can take effect within five hundred heartbeats after writing the name_." _Twenty-five heartbeats…around forty seconds. _"_The mortal who lays hand to this book can perceive the form and voice of its original owner, a reaper, even if the mortal is not the owner of the book._"

"Reaper," Lloyd muttered aloud. _In Japanese…shinigami! This cannot all be coincidence…multiple killers, heart attacks, shinigami… It would answer all my questions. But…is it real? It is certainly very old. _

He flipped forward. After the numerous rules were several names scrawled on the next few pages. "_Edward Plantagenet…_" _Edward III who died in…1377! His descendants married into my family! _He continued reading: "_James Stuart_ …_George Hanover …William Hanover and…Abdul Azhrad?" _

_The first four are British monarchs: James II who died in 1689, George I who died in 1727 and William IV who died in 1837! Can this book…really kill then? I have to test it_, he realized.

Lloyd bolted upright and drew a pen forth from the drawer and stared at the book, feeling his heart race and his breaths grew laboured. _If someone dies, I become a murderer. _He thought back to a quote from one of the books he had secretly read as a teenager, "_The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed_." _There are people who __**should **__die…it must be someone whose death I can discern quickly. Am I taking this too seriously? But if it really is how Kira killed then this…can accomplish everything!_

He paused. _But who should I write? If it works, I can't let the victim reveal anything about me-That's how L determined Kira was in Japan after all—because that was where his first victim was killed._ For a few moments, he pondered several different courses of action. _It's like a pyramid—if I strike the top, the middle will simply become the new top. If I strike the bottom, the pyramid's size will only dimish. But…if I strike the middle, the bottom and the top will be cut off from each other and the top will come crashing down over the bottom. They would be disorganized and terrified. That's how to destroy a pyramid!_

Taking out a small key, he unlocked a drawer and took out a laptop computer. After putting his finger onto the print reader, it opened and he quickly entered his twenty-seven character passcode. Searching through his files, he found what he was looking for. It was a roster of those who were invited to secretly attend this year's "Bilderberg" conference which was to be held in a few weeks. _Bilderberg_, Lloyd thought as he reflected upon its history._ Begun in 1954 at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek by Prince Bernhard, Joseph Retinger, and Walter Bedell Smith, it has continued to meet every year since by invitation-only in complete secrecy surrounded by droves of police and mercenaries, responsible for the __**selection**__ of U.S. Presidents and U.K. Ministers, the creation of the European Union, the 1996 Kosovo War, and the recent global financial __**depression**__. Jonathan Duffy of the BBC once wrote that, "N__o reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted... In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary _**_conspiracy_**_ theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg" and attendee David Rockefeller, in an interview with Benjamin Fulford, remarked that**, "**__We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop __**our plan for the world**__ if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to __**march towards a world government**__. The supranational sovereignty of __**an intellectual elite and world bankers**__ is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."_

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. _For __years they have quietly caused the impoverishment, starvation and even slaughter of thousands through their cold, selfish decisions…under orders from **people like**…my father. _

He stopped. _No, that won't do. If I kill **people like that **without also killing my father, someone may conclude that it is just for profit and investigate our family. I would have to spare them until later._

A soft smile came to his face as he perused the names and he brought up an internet browser. Loading several proxies, he ran an image search using the names on the list as his parameters. Each one successfully returned a clear photograph online. He smiled darkly. _They don't even bother to hide their faces. This would be too easy!_

Turning to the first few pages of rules, he searched through until he found two that seemed useful: _"__Within twenty-five heartbeats after writing a cause of death, the time of death can be chosen and can take effect within five hundred heartbeats after writing the name__" _and _"In occasions where the cause and details of death are writ before the name, multiple names can be written as long as they are writ within twenty-five heartbeats and the cause and details of death are not beyond nature."_

_If I use this, I could write that they all die at the same time, assembled at the conference in a few weeks. It would certainly send a powerful message. But…if I do that, those who declined to attend would fall under suspicion immediately. Instead_ _I could write their names down and, __**if**__ they all die anyways, since the meetings are secret, only those within the elite could make the connection and such an idea would be complete conjecture regardless. _Flipping to a blank page, he tentatively set the tip of the pen to the paper.

_Just over six minutes. _He checked his watch and carefully wrote "_4:25pm, spontaneous combustion"_, followed by the names:

"_Davignon Etienne_

_Josef Ackermann_

_Keith Alexander_

_Takis_ _Arapoglou_

Like lightning, his pen raced across the pages in a flurry of motion.

_Franco Bernabe_

_Christoph Blocher_

_Ana Botin_

_Henri de Castries_

_Edmund Clark_

_George David_

_Richard Dearlove_

_Mario Draghi_

_Eldrup Anders_

_John Elkann_

_Thomas Enders  
_

_Timothy Geithner_

_Donald Graham_

_Jaap Scheffer_

_James Jones_

Sweat began to dab his forehead as he raced to finish in time. _It must be simultaneous!_

_John Kerr_

_Mustafa Koc_

_Henry Kissinger_

_Marie Jose Kravis_

_Jessica Matthews_

_Philippe Maystadt_

_Frank McKenna_

_John Micklethwait_

_Thierry de Montbrial_

_Mario Monti_

_Craig Mundie_

_Egil Myklebust_

_Mathias Nass_

_Denis Olivennes_

_Frederic Oudea_

_Dimitrios Papalexopoulo_

_Richard Perle_

_John Pritchard_

_Heather Reisman_

_David Rockefeller_

_Barnett Rubin_

_Indira Samarasekera_

_Jurgen Schrempp_

_Lawrence Summers_

_Martin Taylor_

_Peter Thiel_

_Peter Sutherland  
_

_Daniel Vasella_

_Jeroen van der Leer_

_Jacob Wallenberg_

_Marcus Wallenberg_

_Nout Wellink_

_Hans Wijers_

_Martin Wolf_

Out of the corner of his eye, he checked his watch. _One minute left!_

_Paul Wolfowitz_

_Fareed Zakaria_

_Robert Zoellick_

_Anna Diamantopoulo_

_George David_

_Roger Altman  
_

_Jon Baksaas_

_Oscar Bronner_

_Luc Coene_

_Timothy Collins  
_

_Dermot Gleeson_

_James Johnson_

_Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.  
_

_Muhtar Kent  
_

_Klaus Kleinfeld  
_

_Pascal Lamy  
_

_Jorma Ollila  
_

_Rudolf Scholten_

_Domenico Siniscalco  
_

_Bjorn Stigson_

Finally finished, he set the pen down wearily, taking his first breath in three minutes. _If this doesn't work…that was all for nothing. No…this has to be it! _He checked his watch as the seconds went by, _4:24:58, 4:24:59, and…4:25:00!_

_I just need to confirm one and I'll know it works. _Taking up the remote he turned the television on. He had access to every channel in the world through satellite so at least one person whose name he wrote should be in front of a camera. He turned to C-SPAN. What he beheld forced him abruptly to his feet, breathing heavily.

On the floor of the Congress building in the U.S., politicians were running in terror from the figure standing before them who had suddenly burst into flames and collapsed to the ground. The caption at the bottom of the screen read: _Benjamin Bernanke_, a man who worked for Lloyd's family, the de Bauers, through his position on the board of the privately-owned Federal Reserve central ban. The audio was being muddled by several screams as hordes of confused police officers descended onto the floor. It appeared that the one supposed to be manning the camera had also fled because it fell over abruptly and the words "He's dead!" were shouted before the channel finally terminated the live broadcast with a temporary message of technical difficulty.

Lloyd turned the television off, a bewildering assortment of thoughts forming in his mind, and collapsed back into his seat. He noticed he was shaking, but quickly suppressed it. _Dead? Burnt alive… Then this… This book! There is no other explanation, it actually kills! I just…killed a person, no, many people, with my own hands. _

He closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts, clearing a mess of auburn hair away from his face. _No, he deserved to die. This is something I have been thinking about since I was a child. But instead, my whole life, I have been lying, taking my place in the lie called history. But I am utterly tired of this never-changing world. And I have it now—the power…to destroy the system I hate. I can really do it now if I possess this book. But my resolve…my reaction after only the first person! I suppose it is to be expected though. If I took death lightly, I would be no different from the elite I hate. But...can I endure this? Can I wear this bloodstained mantle from now on, suffering the consequences? No, I cannot stop now, even at the expense of my mind and the lives of others. Someone has to do this! Things must change!_

Lloyd looked down at the book resting in his hands again. _If another had acquired this book, would that person be able to do it? There is no one else who could hope to challenge the system alone. But I can do it. No, I am the __**only **__one who can! I've spent my entire studying its flaws, investigating its corruption, exploring methods to subvert and ultimately destroy it. And now with this book, I shall…__**BECOME THE WEAPON OF THE POWERLESS! **__By design, the people do not realize how much power they have. They are numerous, whereas the elite are very few. So…to make my point, I should kill them gradually and selectively._

Lloyd grinned darkly. _**Today, I pledge my vow to the revolution and I will let no one stand in my way! **_

He closed the book and set it inside the drawer under another stack of papers, engaging the lock with his key. _I'll definitely have to find a more securing hiding place_, he thought. _But for now it should do._

Rising up from the chair, he undid his shirt and fell wearily into the deep bed. He gazed out the ornate window for a moment, watching the light wane. _I should rest _he thought as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	5. TERROR

**TERROR**

Several hours later in the middle of the night, Lloyd awoke at the sound of the thunder. Turning to look out the window, he saw that a storm was indeed raging outside, cleansing the city of its filth. He smiled at the thought. He, like the storm, would cleanse the world of its filth. _The parasites who feed off humanity._

Not wishing to make anyone aware of his awakening, he lit a candle and strode over to the desk. Unlocking the drawer, he removed the red notebook. _So it 's still here…I wasn't dreaming. _A devious laugh rose from his throat.

"Do you like it, then?" he heard a gravelly voice call out.

Lloyd whirled around, dropping the notebook to the table. Before him, amidst the flashes of lightning, hovered a shadow that did not stir with the wind as did the shadows of the trees, and neither did it remain still as did the shadows of the shelves that lined the walls. And the lightning merely seemed to sink into it.

Lloyd, taking the candle, raised his trembling hand high to bathe the shadow in flickering light.

What he beheld caused him to shout in terror, although he quickly clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from alerting anyone nearby.

It's leering, bulbous eyes reflected the stark blue light of the full moon with their jaundiced glow. The gnarled head protruded from hunched shoulders which supported membranous leathery wings, folded behind it for the moment , and wisps of rancid breath seethed through rows of jagged teeth that glittered like the strange bejeweled chains around its neck and chest. Jet hair fell like a mane to its shoulders and a ragged blood red tunic was tied around its waist with a long slit cut from one of its legs up to its thigh. It laughed from deep within its throat as it regarded the horrified human before it, its black leather jowls pulling back into a hideous death-mask grin.

"There is no reason to be afraid," the figure assured him with a voice that sounded like a blend of chains being drug through the mud, gargled razor blades and the shrill scream of wind high in the mountains. "I am Jebel, the reaper who dropped that. You have surely realized by now that it is not an ordinary book?"

Lloyd fell to the floor in shock, almost dropping the candle. "R-Reaper!" he blurted out. However, he stood back to his feet defiantly, closing his eyes for just a moment before he spoke. A confident smile flashed across his face. "Reaper, although I was _not_ expecting you_ just_ _yet_, I am unafraid, Jebel."

Jebel looked into Lloyd's deep emerald eyes with amusement, turning her head slightly. "Is that so?"

"I have satisfied any doubt over this book's authenticity," Llloyd continued, picking up the notebook once more and, in one fluid motion, flipped it open before the reaper, revealing the plethora of names he had already written within.

Jebel stared at the open book in disbelief, slightly bemused. "This is amazing!" she intoned with honest admiration. "I never thought you would have killed so many in only a day. And such people at that! This is even more than Ryuk."

Lloyd set the book back down again and leaned cautiously against the blackwood desk. "I am prepared, Jebel. I knew it was a supernatural book and I used it anyway…and now a reaper has appeared before me. What is to happen to me now? Are you going to take my life?"

Jebel laughed heartily and Lloyd cringed. "I suppose my reputation as a reaper precedes me. But no, I am not going to take anything from you. From the moment that it came in contact with the matter of this world, the book has belonged to this plane. It has passed into your possession now."

"Mine?" Lloyd repeated.

"Of course, if you don't want it anymore, give it to someone else," Jebel teased. "Then I will remove all the memories related to the notebook from your mind."

Lloyd remained still, brushing an auburn strand out of his face.

"Also, you are the only one who can sense my presence, since the book your using was once owned by me," Jebel continued. "For now, that book is the bond that ties the human Lloyd to the reaper Jebel. Think of it as…" she smiled suggestively. "…My dowry in our marriage."

"Marriage?" Lloyd repeated with a scowl. "Then…there are no consequences to using it?" he asked, his voice full of suspicion.

"Well…" Jebel struggled to find the right words. "There is hardship and terror; misery and fear that will be felt by the one who uses it. It will lead to a life of solitude. And…when you die, I will be the one to write down your name in my own book of death, after which, however, you will never find rest. That is all."

For a moment they looked at each other and neither spoke. Jebel chuckled. "The humans who have possessed this book before you have written more detailed explanations of its capabilities within and the rest is for you to discover for yourself I suppose," she added with a jagged grin.

"I have a question for _you_," Lloyd countered, his eyes narrowing. "How did this come book come to me?"

"Well don't flatter yourself," Jebel began, her lips curling into a wicked smile. "But I dropped that book among you humans centuries ago. It was first found by the Rosicrucians, devious men who stumbled around seeking ancient occult knowledge. Convinced of the book's power, they used it for the next several centuries to assassinate monarchs who displeased them. However, the last person to have possession of the book, an Arab by the name of Abdul Azhrad, succumbed to madness , and wrote his own name down instead."

"Why would anyone do that?" Lloyd asked.

"Since he could not bear it, I tried to convince him to relinquish possession and lose his memory instead, but he…" Jebel's voice trailed off and Lloyd thought he almost saw sadness in her eyes. "He was determined to die. With his death, the book was left without an owner and I waited for months for someone to pick it up, but no one did. Reapers cannot remain on this plane without good reason and the law is that 'If none claim ownership of the book , the reaper who brought the book to the mortals is allowed to return to our realm.' "

"Madness… If I use the book, will that be my fate as well?" Lloyd asked, his gaze unfaltering.

"Those who cannot live with the consequences of their decisions will be consumed by it's power from the very beginning," Jebel replied without a tinge of emotion. "The one who intends to use it must be strong in their determination, without regrets or hesitation."

"But why did you drop it in the first place?" Lloyd demanded. "It can''t have been an accident."

"Some incompetent reapers _do_ lose their notebook by accident, forcing them to come here and accompany the mortal who takes possession of it until they die. But others drop their notebook purposefully, because…well, we are bored," Jebel confessed, her eyes narrowing. "Our homeplane is dismal and barren and it may sound strange, but many reapers are simply lazy, wasting their years sleeping and gambling. Those who spend time writing in our notebooks are even mocked. But some of us, from time to time, get so tired of it that we play a game with each other. We drop one of _our _books among the humans and see who can kill the most."

"What a grotesque game," Lloyd said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Your not so different from us," Jebel observed. "You humans engage in the wholesale slaughter of yourselves routinely and you, Lloyd, certainly possess the will to kill."

Lloyd finally smiled at this strange being that hovered before him, saying nothing in reply.

Jebel picked up the notebook to admire its contents once more.

"I was frustrated and I suppose…even bored as well," Lloyd confessed. "While something like this would be hard to believe, there were too many similarities between this book and the Kira murders."

"You mean Ryuk's friend?" Jebel corrected.

Lloyd raised an eyebrow in surprise but tossed a faint smile in her direction to downplay the impact of his next question. "Just because I'm curious, does that mean you knew Kira?" Lloyd asked casually to make this burning question come across as careless.

Jebel smiled back. "I knew Ryuk, the reaper who gave Kira his notebook. He became somewhat of a celebrity because of how many they killed together, a source of constant entertainment for a while."

"But _who_ was Kira?" Lloyd asked, holding his breath.

"You ask a lot of questions," Jebel replied suspiciously, and Lloyd bit his lip in frustration.

"You could just admit you don't know," Lloyd baited, turning away and feigning disinterest.

Jebel blinked in surprise. _The audacity of this mortal! _"I know who Kira was!" she protested. "He was some kid named Light Yagami, although he lent the notebook to others in order to hide his identity from the authorities."

His back still turned to her, Lloyd smiled deviously. _She gave in so easily…Light Yagami is it?_ He sat down at his desk and, taking out the laptop, entered the password and opened an internet browser. _It's Japanese so…_

Jebel returned her attention to the names in notebook, periodically laughing when she came across one that amused her. "Why did you only write a single cause of death as a header and then simply fill in the names below it like that?" Jebel inquired. "Are you too lazy?"

"I wrote the cause as 'spontaneous combustion'," Lloyd replied softly. "That is the best part of your book," he added excitedly.

Jebel looked at the human confused.

Lloyd sighed. "I wrote the names of some the most powerful _public _figures. And they all died consumed by fire! Even the ignorant will eventually realize that these tyrants are being killed by _someone_. I want to let the world know of my existence—that there is someone fighting for their freedom. Soon, the stubborn elite will realize, 'If I continue oppressing the people, I will be killed.' When I am finished, no one will dominate each other anymore and people will be able to live without fear."

Jebel merely smirked. _Humans are so INTERESTING!_

"There you are," Lloyd muttered triumphantly as his search finished. It was a picture of a young man, with red hair and piercing amber eyes, wearing a fitted dark suit and red tie. _Tokyo, Japan…the son of…Police Chief Soichiro Yagami? That means he was most likely able to obtain inside information on the investigation to stay one step ahead. _Among the results was an obituary dated 2010. _So he's dead then. That explains Kira's inexplicable disappearance. Hard to believe that this boy held the world in terror for six years._

Satisfied, he closed the browser and cleared his history, locking the laptop and storing it away in the drawer.

He laid back in the chair as he pondered and planned for what would happen in the next several days. _The killings will cause the authorities to panic as the international stock market falls to abysmal levels. Rich multinational corporations like Royal Dutch Shell, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Coca-Cola Company will be devastated, forcing staff to temporarily take control, assuredly leading to their ruin, or the elite to pull their support and dissolve them. The central banks of several major industrialized country in the West, what amount to, essentially, hedged investments by families like mine, likewise, are now without managers. However, if the elite abandon them, it would completely collapse each participating industrialized economy because of how interdependent the system is upon itself. They will have to either assume the positions of direct leadership themselves exposing them to media scrutiny, something they fear above all else, or find quick replacements from understudy pools. Father should very busy over the next few weeks for this reason. After a week or so, as the lists of the dead are compiled, the internet will hail the return of Kira which will cause world leaders, under pressure from us, to demand an investigation to lead to Kira's arrest. This will draw out those who would oppose me, most likely this new "L". Unless they operate from the premise that I am the same Kira, which would **really** be quite laughable, they will likely start looking into the victims to build a profile of the killer. So…I just have to make sure that I left no clues which would make the profile lead them to me.  
_

**…**

In a private assisted-living complex somewhere in New York, Near crouched on a chair in his room, slowly spinning while he worked on the puzzle in his lap.

Suddenly, the computer alerted him of an incoming message and he absently opened it. Silently, he read:

"_L , there is an urgent case involving a serial killer rampant in Atlanta which we have been following for several months, unsuccessfully trying to pin a suspect down. Meanwhile, the victims continue to turn up, adorned with strange clues that we can make no sense of. Please lend your assistance in this matter. We know that you can solve even the toughest cases._"

Near rolled his eyes. _How boring. _Opening the reply window, he typed, "_This is L. I will not be assisting you. The case is simply too boring to warrant my attention. Figure it out yourself._"

Closing the window he returned to his puzzle, but there was a knock on the door and Anthony Rester strode in, a grave look on his aging features.

"Is something wrong, Anthony?" Near asked, brightening.

"Near, have you seen the news?" Anthony asked.

"No," Near replied.

"Aizawa called from the NPA, but…you have to see this for yourself," Rester explained.

Near looked confused, but took up a remote and turned on the television.

An attractive young newscaster was calmly explaining an apparent tragedy to her viewers—a series of freak spontaneous human combustions.

"_We are live from Washington, D.C. In a bizarre development, a massive spate of, what appear to be spontaneous human combustions, has occurred this week, baffling medical experts and prompting a possible investigation_," she explained. "_While this is an early, incomplete report, it has been confirmed that our own Henry Kissinger, Timothy Geithnir, Donald Graham, Craig Mundie, and David Rockefeller are among the dead_."

Near laid forward, propping himself up on his elbows, and a smile came to his face as he watched. His finger began to twirl the ends of his white hair excitedly.

"Connect me to Aizawa," Near asked when the report had finished as he prepared his vocal masking software.

"Here," Rester said as he plugged the phone into the computer and dialed the number. It rang only once before the familiar voice of Shuichi Aizawa, the new director of the Japanese NPA, came on the line.

"It's Near," the digitally altered voice intoned.

"Have you heard? Another Kira has appeared!" Aizawa exclaimed fearfully.

"I've just seen a short report, but they're not mentioning Kira yet," Near explained. "However, this means that someone has acquired another death notebook."

"Damn," Aizawa cursed.

"Aizawa, are you still in contact with Matsuda, Mogi and Ide?" Near asked.

"Of course!" Aizawa replied, a little more strongly than he intended.

"I will contact Gevanni and Lidner. We already know how they kill, so we should come together and investigate the victims for clues to find this new Kira ," Near suggested. "That is, assuming of course, your willing to participate."

"Where should we meet?" Aizawa asked, slightly irritated.

Near was silent for a moment as he pondered possible locations. "Ideally, I want to transfer the operation near to wherever this Kira is hiding. But for now, the facility here in New York should suffice. It has all the necessary equipment and no one knows I'm here. I'll forward the address to you through a secure channel. That is all for now."

"Alright," Aizawa agreed as he hung up.

Near turned toward Rester. "I need you to contact Lidner and Gevanni and have them come here as well."

Rester nodded as he prepared to leave, stopped midstride however.

"Anthony," Near called. "Could you also bring me a cookie?" he asked with a guilty smile.

Rester nodded. He had never quite gotten used to caring for Near. Frankly, it was surprising that someone so brilliant on the one hand could be so needy on the other.

Left alone with his thoughts, Near took out some toy blocks and began to build a structure. _I need to find a full list of the victims from this week. I need to know who and where the first victim was, any commonalities or connections between the victims and if the killer has the Eyes yet or not…_

In a few moments, he had a sturdy tower reaching into the air. Near smiled. _Finally, something interesting!_


	6. DEPTH

**DEPTH**

At the bustling airport in Tokyo, four weary travelers sat on a provided couch, awaiting the time of their flight's departure.

"How is Sayu, Mastuda?" Ide asked absently.

"She's doing well," Matsuda replied quickly, blushing for some reason. "We got a nice house in Aoyoma."

"Still hard to believe that Sayu married _you_," Aizawa remarked.

"W-Why is that?" Matsuda asked defensively.

"Well, for one, you tried to murder her brother," Ide suggested deviously.

"H-hey now—" Matsuda began, but was cut off.

"-Just what _did _you tell her?" Aizawa interjected.

"I told her that…Light died fighting Kira," Matsuda said, looking down sadly.

"I thought as much," Ide remarked. "I would've done the same."

"Actually, the other day she came up to me and," Matsuda lowered to a whisper. "Out of nowhere, asked if Light was Kira."

Mogi raised his eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

"Did you tell her?" Aizawa asked.

"Of course not!" Matsuda exclaimed. "I couldn't do that to her. But she said that it seemed like the murders stopped when Light died. I guess she has more of her brother in her than I thought."

"If Chief Yagami were still alive, you would never have been able to marry Sayu; using her brother's death to manipulate her like that," Aizawa feigned.

"H-hey it wasn't like that at all!" Matsuda protested. "She came to _me_, after that whole thing, if you remember. I was there for her and, well, one thing led to another."

"And now his death is meaningless after all," Ide remarked bitterly. "Another Kira has just arisen in his place."

The other two looked down sadly, unsure of how to respond. Mogi continued to lay back into the couch, eyes closed.

"How is Yumi doing?" Matsuda asked, changing the subject.

"Well enough, I suppose. It's hard to believe she's already in high school though," Aizawa replied somewhat proudly.

"New York flight!" a speaker overhead blared.

"That's us!" Mogi said as he bolted up to his feet and grabbed his luggage, leaving the other three staring confused behind him. "Well, come on!" he called back.

**…**

Lloyd sat at his desk, browsing the internet. It had been several days since he had removed Bilderberg and he was very curious concerning the peoples' reactions. He had a search running for parameters such as 'Kira', 'deaths', and 'spontaneous human combustions'.

"This one is already suggesting that Kira has returned," Lloyd remarked absently to Jebel, who was laying on his bed.

"This bed is enormous!" Jebel mused, ignoring him.

"_**Has 'Kira' Returned? **__by Kurt Nimmo," _Lloyd read silently. _"Over 100 individuals around the world have mysterious died in what appear to be freak spontaneous human combustions. All of them are powerful figures—international industrialists, financiers, or corporate executives-, connected by at least one thing—they appear to have been invited to attend this year's secret Bilderberg conference whose own current presiding chairman, Viscount Davignon Etienne, is among the dead. Inside sources have leaked that, for the first time ever, the exclusive meeting is being called off. Due to the bizarre, impossible nature of these deaths, many are wondering if this is proof of Kira's return, the apparent psychic killer who launched a purge against criminals from 2004-2009. Although Kira disappeared sometime in 2010, it has not been shown that anyone else has the ability to perform something to this scale. As of yet, we have been able to confirm that the following luminaries are among the dead:_

_Josef Ackermann (Deutsche Bank)_

_Keith B. Alexander (U.S. National Security Agency)_

_Georgios Arapoglou (National Bank of Greece)_

_Franco Bernabe (Telecom Italia)_

_Christoph Blocher (EMS-Chemie)_

_Ana Patricia Botin (Banco Banesto)_

_Henri de Castries (AXA)_

_Edmund Clark (TD Bank Financial Group)_

_George David (United Technologies Corporation)_

_Richard Dearlove (U.K. Secret Intelligence Service)_

_Mario Draghi (Banca d'Italia)_

_Eldrup Anders (Dong Energy)_

_John Elkann (Exor)_

_Thomas Enders (Airbus)_

_Timothy Geithnir (U.S. Treasury)_

_Donald Graham (The Washington Post Company)_

_Jaap Scheffer (Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization)_

_James Jones (National Security Advisor, U.S.)_

_Mostafa Vehbi Koc (Koc Holding)_

_Henry Kissinger (U.S.)_

_Marie Jose Kravis (Hudson Institute)_

_Jessica Matthews (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)_

_Philippe Maystadt (European Investment Bank)_

_Frank McKenna (Toronto-Dominion Bank)_

_John Micklethwait (U.K., The Economist)_

_Thierry de Montbrial (__Institut français des relations internationals)_

_Craig Mundie (Microsoft)_

_Egil Myklebust (SAS Group)_

_Mathias Nass (Germany, Die Zeit)_

_Denis Olivennes (Nouvel Observatuer)_

_Frederic Oudea (Societe Generale)_

_Dimitrios Papalexopoulo (Titan Cement Company SA)_

_Richard Perle (American Enterprise Institute)_

_ S. Pritchard (Torstar Corporation)_

_Heather M. Reisman (Indigo Books & Music Inc.)_

_Barnett R. Rubin (Center for International Cooperation)_

_Indira Samarasekera (Scotiabank)_

_Jurgen E. Schrempp (DaimlerChrysler)_

_Lawrence Summers (U.S., National Economic Council)_

_Peter Sutherland (Goldman Sachs International)_

_Martin Taylor (Syngenta AG)_

_Peter Thiel (Clarium Capital Management LLC)_

_Daniel L. Vasella (Novartis AG)_

_Jeroen van der Veer (Royal Dutch Shell)_

_Nout Wellink (De Nederlandsche Bank, Bank of International Settlements)_

_Hans Wijers (AkzoNobel)_

_Martin Wolf (U.K., Financial Times)_

_Paul Wolfowitz (World Bank)_

_Fareed Zakaria (CNN)_

_Robert Zoellick (World Bank)_

_Anna Diamantopoulou (Panhellenic Socialist Movement)_

_George A. David (Coca-Cola Helenic Bottling Co.)_

_Roger Altman (Evercore Partners, Inc.)_

_Jon Baksaas (Telenor Group)_

_Oscar Bronner (Der Standard)_

_Luc Coene (National Bank of Belgium)_

_Timothy Collins (Ripplewood Holdings, LLC)_

_Dermot Gleeson (AIB Group)_

_James Johnson (Perseus, LLC)_

_Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (Lazard Freres)_

_Muhtar Kent (Coca-Cola Company)_

_Klaus Kleinfeld (Alcoa Inc.)_

_Pascal Lamy (World Trade Organization)_

_Jorma Ollila (Royal Dutch Shell)_

_Rudolf Scholten (Oesterreichische Kontrollbank)_

_Domenico Siniscalco (Morgan Stanley International)_

_Bjorn Stigson (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)____"_

Lloyd's phone rang again as he finished. It had been ringing almost constantly over the last few days as panic set in among the world's elite. It seemed everyone was trying to reach him. _Given my past successes, they probably think I'll save them. If they only knew how much I detest them… _

Answering it, he was surprised to hear the voice of his father, Salomon de Bauer, on the other end of the line. Smiling to Jebel, he turned on the speaker.

"Lloyd!" his father exclaimed. "Have you heard?"

"Father? Yes, I'm actually compiling a list now and assessing the damages," Lloyd replied cooly.

"This is clearly an attack on our system. Our best agents were killed." Salomon lamented.

"We'll have to find immediate replacements in order to fill the necessary positions in the banks," Lloyd explained.

Salmon cursed under his breath. "They should be able to function, though," he stressed.

"Certainly for now," Lloyd agreed, smiling to himself. "Killing a few managers isn't enough to stop our system. But we have to ensure that the understudies are closely watched to prevent further damages,"

"Such a perfect system," Salomon mused. "How is the media representing the incident? I've only had time to see a few reports and we just lost our top agents within the media anyway."

"I've looked into that as well," Lloyd assured him. "From what I can gather, the mainstream venues are leaving the more obscure names out of their reports and none, as per policy, are mentioning Bilderberg at all. However, I have come across a few alternative reports online in private, fringe media making the connection and suggesting Kira as the culprit already. However, since their followers are comparatively low, it shouldn't become a problem."

"Understood," Salomon replied. "But…why were the heads of the Bank of England or the Royal Bank of Scotland, for example, left alone?"

"I'm not entirely sure…and any answer we consider now will be mere speculation. At this point, it appears only those invited to attend this year's conference were affected. However, I'll have our agents investigating the matter thoroughly so we can come up with an effective counterstrategy against further incursion," Lloyd explained.

"F-further?" Salmon stammered.

"If this is the work of Kira, we already know he won't stop with so few," Lloyd replied.

"Well, if anyone can defeat Kira and bring us through this mess on top, Lloyd, I know you can," Salomon ventured. "I should be back in Britain next week. I hope to meet with you then."

"Till then, father," Lloyd agreed as he ended the call.

"Did you hear that, Jebel?" Lloyd called behind him. "I have never heard my father so…uneasy before. Well, I suppose an enemy that can kill without laying a finger on you would be pretty terrifying."

**_…_**

"I wonder what Near is like now," Ide mused as he, Matsuda, Mogi and Aizawa walked toward the door at the location Near had specified. "I mean, it's been over four years since we last saw him. "

The other three ignored him, however, and reached for the door, only to be met by Rester who stood in the lobby waiting.

"Hello again, Aizawa," Rester greeted.

Aizawa nodded. Clearly, business was his only concern.

"H-hello Mr. Rester," Matsuda covered with a smile.

"Near is waiting for you. Come with me," Rester replied, motioning for them to follow.

"What is this place?" Ide asked absently.

"It's a private assisted living complex and the headquarters of the current L," Rester explained.

Coming to an electronic door, Rester stopped and asked rather apologetically, "Near requests that you leave all electronic devices behind here."

"Yeah, we know the drill," Matsuda sighed.

After they had finished divesting themselves of such devices, Rester performed the fingerprint and retina scan and entered his code, opening the door.

Against the far wall, in front of a row of computer displays, was a large, high back chair.

The four held their breath as the chair slowly turned and Near came into view. He was much taller now, wearing a simple oversized white shirt. A smack of white hair fell loosely about his face and the beginnings of sharp bags could be seen under his eyes, reminiscent of his predecessor, L.

"Hello again, Kira Task Force," Near greeted.

From the side, Stephen Gevanni and Halle Lidner joined them, nodding their recognition.

"Hello again," Lidner greeted as well. Gevanni merely watched them with his cool eyes.

Aizawa broke the silence after a few moments. "Well, it looks like we're all here, Near."

"First, thank you all for coming. There are some chairs here if you'd like to sit down," Near motioned. "Before anything else, I would like to brief you on what I've already determined about this new Kira from examining the victims."

Matsuda, Mogi, Ide and Gevanni took a seat, while Aizawa and Lidner remained standing, glancing at each other with slight amusement.

"First is the most obvious, but also the most crucial to keep in mind before proceeding. This Kira is not like Yagami," Near explained. "He started with around 130 specific targets, which means he has an immediate goal in mind. He's a mission-oriented killer. We need to figure out what this goal could be by analyzing his motives."

"Hard to believe this is happening all over again," Matsuda lamented.

"Gevanni," Near motioned, ignoring him. "Please explain what you found."

"I researched each name reported by the media. All of them had clear photographs available online," Gevanni related.

"This would indicate that this Kira does not have the Eyes, at least for now, then," Near continued. "Not only will this restrict his abilities, but it also further confirms that he has a goal in mind which he feels requires his full lifespan. If this holds, we can be fairly certain that this is the work of the mastermind and not merely a proxy acting to cover Kira's tracks."

The group nodded at the assessment. It made sense.

"Because of the simultaneous and varied nature of his first victims, it is impossible to determine his location by that alone. However, because of the high concentration of Eastern American and Western European names, it may be that Kira is hiding somewhere there. In order to get closer, however, I propose that we carefully examine the lists of the dead to find any connections between them. There is a reason these specific people were killed and we need to find out what that reason was. This may take awhile, so I hope you are all prepared to live here for the time being," Near added.

"We brought everything we'll need," Ide assured him.

"Truthfully…" Near paused. "We need Kira to kill again."

"Near!" Aizawa exclaimed angrily. "How can you say something like that?"

"Unpleasant or not," Near replied calmly. "It is the truth. In order to ascertain more information on the killer, we need him to kill again, though you may be uncomfortable admitting it."

Matsuda scowled. _He's so…cold. I mean, I guess L went to questionable extremes to get results, but Near is so…detached. L never would have used the notebook on Mikami._


	7. ELIMINATION

**ELIMINATION**

Lloyd sat at his large African Blackwood desk, calmly scrawling names into the red bound book before him.

_spontaneous combustion,_

_Constantijn Aschwin_

_Beatrix Armgard_

_Sofia Frederica_

_Juan Carlos_

_Willem-Alexander Ferdinand_

_Filips Maria_

"Who are you killing today?" Jebel inquired rather lazily as she stalked over to him.

"Are you bored already?" Lloyd teased, ignoring the question.

"No!" the reaper protested. "Just curious is all. You haven't written any names for several days."

"How long did you have to wait until I purchased the notebook?" Lloyd asked with a smug grin.

"Good point," Jebel remarked and then fell silent, sitting down upon his bed.

"Firstly, I just removed the royal patrons of Bilderberg after all these years," Lloyd explained. "However, now the rest of the middle men have to be taken care of to ensure the complete disruption of communications between the elite and their public puppets—"

"Middle men?" Jebel asked, confusion evident in her ghostly voice.

"As a policy, we do not directly deal with public figureheads like politicians or executives," Lloyd explained, excusing the interruption. "For that purpose we have what are sometimes called 'middle-men.' Recruited from wealthy families, they are groomed to be leaders within their fields and sent to specialized schools and initiated into secretive societies that teach them, above all, the importance of obedience as well as the philosophies, beliefs and goals we desire for them to hold. They are then placed into positions of varying importance to act as our agents, where their progress is carefully monitored and reported by other agents. Those who are ruthless, pragmatic and cunning rise to the most prominent positions, which in our world are the most hidden, whilst those who disappoint us fall to the lower echelons, in this case, the very public. The prominent are gathered together in formal associations which act as committees to discuss and implement the points we feed them, through various channels, like Bilderberg, though there are also others. If we are gods, the middle-men would be our prophets. It is now time to deal with the others."

Jebel nodded eagerly as she watched Lloyd return his attention to the book. _The Trilateral Commission…began by Zbigniew Brezinski, Henry D. Owen, George S. Franklin, Robert R. Bowie, Gerard C. Smith, Marshall Hornblower, William Scranton, Edwin Reischaur, and Max Kohnstamm in 1972 to "provide measured judgment to government" and funded by the enormously wealthy David Rockefeller, the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Today they strive to ease the boundaries between the powerful industrial centers, North America, Western Europe and East Asia, to foment greater economic and political interdependence and cooperation. The goal is essentially the erosion of national autonomy for the sake of profit and the foundation of a supranational authority more suited to our interests and system of management. If they are left alive, they will merely take the place of those from Bilderberg_, Lloyd pondered, setting his pen to the supernatural paper of the book.

_Joseph Nye, Jr._

_Yotaro Kobayashi_

Lloyd paused. _Peter Sutherland has already been eliminated, so that takes care of the chairmen…_

Continuing, Lloyd wrote:

_Allan Gotlieb_

_Lorenzo Zambrano_

_Herve de Carmoy_

_Andrzej Olechowski_

_Han Sung-Joo_

_Sijuro Ogata_

_Now for the directors! _Lloyd thought as he began to get excited.

_Michael O'Neill_

_Paul Revay_

_Tadashi Yamaoto_

On the laptop, his other hand worked quickly to scroll through the images he had loaded—photographs of the names he was writing.

_Now for the executive committee…_

_Erik Belfrage_

_Frederic Bergsten_

_Georges Berthoin_

_Jorge de Macedo_

_Fracois de 'Estang_

_Richard Conroy_

_Vladimir Dlouhy_

_Bill Emmot_

_Nemesio Fernandez-Cuesta_

_Michael Fuchs_

_Antonio Walker_

_Toyoo Gyohten_

_Stuart Harris_

_Carla Hills_

_Karren House_

_Mugur Isarescu_

_Daniel Janssen_

_Bela Kadar_

_Sixten Korkman_

_Otto Lambsdorff_

_Lee Hong-Koo_

_Marianne Lie_

Lloyd stopped, breathing his head roughly, he forced himself to continue, checking his Patek Philippe platinum watch. _Dammit, the time!_

_Cees Maas_

_Roy MacLaren_

_Minoru Makihara_

_Deryck Maughan_

_Minoru Murofushi_

_Indra Nooyi_

_Yohio Okawara_

_Susan Rice_

_Luis Rubio_

_Silvio Scaglia_

_Guido Schmidt-Chiari_

_Carlo Secchi_

_Toger Seidenfaden_

_Petar Soyanov_

_Harri Tiido_

_George Vassiliou_

_Marjo Volj_

_Panagis Vourloumis_

_Jusuf Wanandi_

_Serge Winberg_

_Henrich Weiss_

Lloyd finished finally, lifting his pen from the page and laying it down upon the desk's smooth black surface gently. Checking his watch again, he silently counted until forty seconds had past.

_With that, the world will realize that I am committed to the revolution, _Lloyd mused silently."Jebel, there is something you will find interesting concerning humans," he called.

"What?" Jebel replied with curiosity, turning towards him on her side.

"The world will publicly mourn the deaths of such people and pay for expensive funerals and ceremonies to ensure that they are not forgotten. The elite will use the media against me to sway the masses away from Kira. But privately, there are still many who follow him and will embrace my campaign. Online, many have already figured it out and pledged their support," Lloyd explained. "People are waking up to the fact that their lives are controlled, not by their elected representatives, but by useless elites who constantly make their lives more miserable by their policies all in service of their own depraved lifestyles." _With their deaths, I am that much closer to my goal_.

Rising up from the chair, he took the notebook and carefully placed it underneath the false bottom of his Beau Reid briefcase, made from carbon fiber and inlaid with the finest leather. Gathering up a few necessary papers as well as his laptop, he stuffed them into the case as well, shutting and locking it.

Taking up a comb he carefully ran it through his auburn strands, smoothing them down along his face.

Jebel grinned as Lloyd pulled off his clothes and opted instead for a deep purple shirt, made by the Swedish company Eton from fine Egyptian cotton, sporting white diamond encrusted cufflinks and a grey silk necktie with a dark, double-breasted suit made from vicuna wool and qiviut and threaded with 18-karat gold, designed by Londoner Alexander Amosu. The kid had style, she had to give him that.

"Where are we going?" Jebel asked as she stood on her long legs.

"M.A. Bauer and Family, my family's investment banking firm, is requesting that I appear in person to lend my advice on how to respond to the current market drop," Lloyd explained as he poured a glass of 1945 Chateau Mouton. "They are extremely worried about a corporate run on the bank."

The reaper laughed. "Kira helping the bank protect itself against Kira! How amusing."

Lloyd merely scowled, raising the glass and drinking its vintage content. "I should warn you now. I won't talk to you when we're in public like this, aside from carefully disguised phrases if something important comes up. So you'll have to pay attention."

"I understand," Jebel assured him, eyeing him carefully as she followed him out of the room.

Lloyd carefully shut and locked the door with his electronic passcode to ensure none would attempt to enter whilst he was away. If they did, he would be immediately alerted through his cell phone and artificially intelligent surveillance protocols would take effect to identify and record the intruder for future disciplinary action.

Descending the long, ornate staircase, he made his way to the expansive garages. They were a veritable museum of high-performance, luxury and sports automobiles and motorcycles.

Jebel stared in awe as they strode up to Lloyd's personal vehicle—a silver toned Bugatti Veyron. Housing a W16 engine fed by four turbochargers along with a dual clutch direct-shift gearbox computer-controlled automatic transmission with seven gear ratios and magnesium paddles in the steering for a shift time of less than 150 milliseconds, it featured a permanent four-wheel drive, using special Michelin PAX run flat tyres, designed to regularly perform at around 220 miles per hour and ten custom-function radiators.

The automatic doors opened, allowing Lloyd and Jebel to enter its plush, leather and chrome interior and he smiled as he placed his hands on the firm steering wheel. The vehicle's top speed had been field tested at 407.9 km/h, almost one-third of the speed of sound at sea level, with the ability to reach 60 miles per hour in 2.4 seconds, making it the fastest legal street car.

Inserting the key into its place, Lloyd held the brake and revved the engine for Jebel's amusement. It was a crisp, smooth south that delighted the senses. Out of the garage, he sped out, exiting through the wrought iron gates onto the road toward London.

Soon they came to a tall, 15-story glass and steel tower housed at New Court which formed the headquarters for de Bauer financial advice and investment banking.

**…**

Sitting upon the floor, Near was carefully assembling a large jigsaw puzzle from pieces that were sprawled out across it. _Financiers…industrialists…corporate executives… But what connects them? There are others who share the occupation, so why those specific ones? Could it really just be random? From the little I've gathered about this Kira, that can't be…_

Looking on, Ide scowled at the young man. Near had said very little since his first address and it was starting to unnerve the officer.

Meanwhile, Matsuda, Mogi, Aizawa and Lidner sat around a table, poring over computers and lists, drinking strong coffee. Gevanni was out on an assignment given by Near.

"Near," Ide said finally, causing him to look up from his puzzle for a moment.

"Yes, officer Ide?" Near asked quickly.

"What have you come up with?" Ide demanded.

"Nothing of importance yet," Near shrugged. "I am still thinking. When I do, I'll let you know."

Ide laid his head back into the chair in frustration, spinning slightly. _This is going to be a long week…_

Hearing some excited commotion among the investigators at the table, he turned his attention in their direction. Matsuda was smiling and pointing to something on the computer as the rest of the group compared it with their lists, nodding.

"Matsuda, what have you found?" Ide called out.

"Well…" Matsuda began uncertainly. "I know this may not be entirely credible, but online here, I found a leaked list of attendees to a secret meeting of sorts that was to be held in a few weeks. Most of the names on the list are now dead…killed by this new Kira."

Ide's eyes widened and he stood to his feet and came over to look.

True enough, simply looking from one list to the other confirmed it. "Bilderberg?" he read.

"I've never heard of it before," Matsuda said. "But apparently one is held every year in strict secrecy."

"Most of the names?" Near repeated, his eyes never leaving the puzzle at his feet.

"Well, yes," Matsuda confessed. "Not all of the victims' names are on this list, though most are."

"But this is only a leaked version," Near mused. "We need an official attendees roster. Aizawa, find a number to someone we can call who represents the group and, in L's name, request it."

"That's impossible, as all those who were invited, including the only formal chairman, are dead," Aizawa countered.

"Well the alternative will take more time. We need to approach the families of those killed on the victims list but not listed among those invited on the leaked lists, and find out if they had an unspecified block of time scheduled for the former date of the conference or flight plans or anything," Near decided.

"I can take care of that," Lidner ventured. "It'll be easier for me to approach them."

"You should leave immediately," Near added. "We need this information."

Lidner nodded her agreement and exited the room.

**…**

Jebel stared at the humans around her with great amusement. A throng of well dressed men and women, powerful public figures and prominent investors, swarmed around Lloyd in a frenzy, worry in their eyes.

"Are our investments safe?"

Like a magician, he carefully assured them, one by one, misdirecting and assuaging their fears.

"Will Kira kill again?"

To these people, Lloyd was the prophet, nay the savior himself, whose words would ensure their financial salvation if they followed him.

"What can we do?"

Lloyd smiled to himself. _They are so pliable_. All he had to do was find the source of their fears and convince them that he could make it go away. Truthfully, their greed and callousness toward suffering disgusted him. _But there's enough time for that later…_

"You needn't worry," Lloyd assured, his words smooth and comforting. "Stewards like myself will use all resources available to ensure that a proper investigation is carried out to stop Kira as soon as possible, before he destroys any more of _your _infrastructure. Till then, merely do what I've said and exercise a little more discretion in your investments and ventures."

**…**

"You were really incredible in there," Jebel mused as the pair emerged from the large doors of the tower into the clear light of day. "All those people completely fell for it."

_Now, I'll I have to do is wait for the media to announce the latest… Then I can proceed_, Lloyd plotted.

**…**

"Near!" Aizawa shouted urgently, drawing the young man's attention. "Come look at this!"

Wearily, Near walked over and stared at the report on the television they were all transfixed by. It was a European channel.

A well-tanned man, sporting a pressed suit and a microphone, was relating a breaking development. "_This not a joke for God's sake. The Queen and Prince of Netherlands, the King and Queen of Spain, and the Princes of Belgium are being reported dead, the apparent victims of the clearly psychotic killer Kira. They…fell victim to spontaneous human combustion around mid day today. Their families are outraged and the countries in disarray. Kira, widely praised and even worshipped by some for his noble campaign against the filth of the world, now has everyone wondering, Why? Why would Kira do such a horrible thing to such gracious and dearly loved people?_

A smile came to Near's face. _This is what I've been waiting for. Thank you, Kira._

"He's going after the royalty now?" Ide asked in disbelief. "What could his goal be?"

"Everyone," Near cautioned. "I do not believe Kira is telling us that his target is necessarily the royalty. If you will notice, not all the European royal heads have died, at least yet. If I would have to guess, I would wager that these specific figures were involved with Bilderberg somehow. Matsuda, I need you to find the veracity of that supposition."

"Right," Matsuda replied quickly, turning toward a computer.

_I will catch you Kira_, Near thought with a proud smile. _I already know what my next move is._


	8. PROGRESSION

**PROGRESSION**

A phone rang. Stooping down to answer it, Near nodded. "Yes, please come in."

The other investigators seated around him held their breath, straining to read the young man's expressionless face.

"It's Lidner," Near explained, setting the phone down. "Seems she has found exactly what we were looking for."

"Finally!" Ide exclaimed.

Several days had passed since members of European royalty and more prominent business men and women had been killed by Kira. The world was busy holding extravagant yet somehow solemn funerals for their cherished luminaries, drawing droves of weeping people, their hearts heaving with fervent patriotism.

Halle Lidner strode in, carrying a briefcase and a smug expression. Carefully she made her way to one of the couches and seated herself beside Rester, setting the brief case upon the glass coffee table and unlocking it. She took out several files and passed them around the room.

Pausing to take a breath, she began. "I found three names among the dead who were not leaked on the attendance roster obtained by the alternative media: David Rockefeller, Jacob Wallenberg and Marcus Wallenberg, brothers. I first approached the Rockefeller family, however..." Lidner's voice trailed off. "Let me just say that they were extremely uncooperative and refused to share any information regarding their schedule or activities, nor did they have any comments concerning Kira."

Near lifted his knees up to his chin and settled in. "Next?"

"Next, I approached the Wallenberg family. I was able to obtain an audience with the mother, Mrs. Wallenberg. While initially also suspicious, when I made clear that I was working as part of an investigation to lead to the capture of her sons' killer, she gave me what I was looking for. First I asked her if Jacob and Marcus were invited to attend Bilderberg, but she refused to comment, citing a tacit agreement among participants to 'not talk about it'. However, she told me that Jacob and Marcus both had an unscheduled week reserved for a secret meeting at the exact time the group we found was slated for. I was shown their flight plans and found the destination we found scheduled for that week. Therefore, James and Marcus were secretly invited to attend Bilderberg," Lidner concluded with a smile.

"So...how does this help us?" Matsuda asked, rubbing his forehead wearily.

Near rolled his eyes subtly. "This tells us that Kira is an insider. He had access to official records, else he could not have known that the Wallenberg brothers would be in attendance as it was not revealed on the internet. While it is possible he was even one of the names not on the secret official list, I personally think this would be a dead end as it would be too obvious."

"Yes, there is no way to obtain access to an official roster that is not even acknowledged to exist anyway," Aizawa remarked.

"Furthermore, we know that individual participants, at least in the case of the Wallenbergs, are not given a list of other attendees anyway," Lidner added.

"Exactly," Near agreed. "That also implies that Kira, to have such intimate knowledge, is someone with more power than the individual participants. Someone who would have such master lists. Now, the 'chairman' is dead also, so it cannot be him. But it is someone whose position awards them with such secret information. Based on our studies of the attendee profiles, what would be the significant factors in determining such a person?"

"It would have to be..." Ide's voice trailed off as he pondered the question. "Family and wealth."

"Yes, family and wealth," Near repeated. "Based on what we know of these people and this meeting, the information Kira has access to means that Kira is wealthy and from a powerful, well connected family of insiders. This narrows down our profile considerably."

"But Near, there are quite a few wealthy and well connected people," Rester cautioned.

"No," Near countered. "From what we've deduced, only the top 1% would have such access. Also, I'm willing to wager for Western Europe rather than Eastern America—"

"—Why?" Matsuda blurted out.

Near sighed condescendingly. "Due to the prevalence of Western European names, the fact that, more importantly, the unlisted Wallenbergs are from Europe, the meeting was to be held in a European country, and the fact that the top 1% of the population are primarily concentrated in Western Europe, rather than Eastern America or Japan. Now we only have to draw Kira out,"

"How?" Mogi inquired.

"I will conduct a television broadcast in the name of L," Near explained.

"Because of what L did to learn Kira was in Japan, which everyone has now seen, I cannot imagine this Kira would fall for the same trick," Aizawa mused.

"You're correct. I have no tricks planned. I am 62% certain that Kira is in Western Europe so I will transmit the broadcast there—but not to learn Kira's locality-only to reach him with a message. No one will be killed in the broadcast," Near reasoned.

Matsuda breathed a sigh of relief at those words.

"However, we will be closely monitoring Western Europe for any unusual developments related to Kira," Near added. "Such a broadcast may cause some amount of fear, anxiety or even reckless action. Something noticeable may occur in the aftermath. However, such a broadcast will garner international attention regardless and will certainly be on the internet in minutes. Regardless of where Kira is, they will hear my message. I'll be writing a script to input into the scrambler. Rester, I'll need you to contact the ICPO and use them to obtain the cooperation of the major European television networks."

Rester nodded.

"So how do we investigate further?" Aizawa asked.

"Well, it will take some time and a lot of manpower," Near began. "But we have to investigate families that qualify as part of the top 1% superclass in Western Europe, including the U.K. That's roughly around 2,000 individuals belonging to about 50 families. Although, I believe, for now, we can ignore any families who have lost individuals to Kira. Unfortunately, this Kira kills seemingly erratically, days apart, between the hours of 2 and 6am, so we can add nothing to the profile from there, except that he is busy with other things and possibly being watched during the day."

"It won't be easy to conduct surveillance on such prominent individuals though," Aizawa warned. "For one, security itself will be extremely tight and if Kira is among them and he is made aware of our investigation, it could be a problem."

"Not necessarily," Near countered. "Actually, my broadcast will make him aware of our investigation—"

"What?" Ide exclaimed.

"I intend to draw him out. Remember Light Yagami?," Near asked. "He became aware of the investigation and what did he do? He sought to infiltrate and take it over. It is possible this Kira may act similarly. In essence, Kira may come to us."

Matsuda twisted in his chair uncomfortably.

**...**

Lloyd sped through the streets of London in his shiny Bugatti Veyron, absently scanning international radio stations for any news related to Kira. Jebel reclined contentedly in the side adjacent, her eyes peeled to the windows in fascination at the bustling city.

Lloyd continued to turn the knob with increasing frustration. _How boring! All the world is focused on is the deaths of their precious figureheads. _However after a few moments he came to a signal which the computer determined was from Austin, Texas. A rich, deep drawl streamed out from the system, interrupted by the occasional long-winded rant. It was the topic, however, that caught his attention: Kira.

"_Big Brother. Mainstream Media. Government Cover-ups. You want answers, well so does he. Live from Austin Texas, Alex Jones_," the announcer proclaimed dramatically.

"_I want to talk for a moment_," Alex paused. "_About the recent Kira killings. Now for those who don't know, 'Kira' was the name given to the serial killer who mysteriously killed criminals en masse with apparent psychic heart attacks from 2004-2009, when he disappeared and the killings stopped. Now, once we first realized something was up, we thought it might be HAARP or some top-secret weapons test or an engineered super virus, and the internet was filled with all kinds of wild speculation. Now at that time, the only professional media covering it were us and others like Coast To Coast AM and Sakura TV of Japan. Now, as the weeks went on and more continued to die, it was then that Interpol got involved and contacted L, the alias of the so-called 'world's greatest detective'. And by now, everyone as seen the video of L challenging Kira to kill him on Japanese TV, it's on Youtube I believe, where he had a criminal on death row pretend to be him under a fake name on a broadcasting pretending to be international but really only being aired in Japan. Kira actually killed the impostor and then audio of L himself aired, revealing the deception and challenging him to kill him, which Kira did not. Then someone claiming to be Kira held Sakura TV hostage and demanded that they air an audio message of Kira demanding that world authorities arrest L and put him on TV for Kira to kill him. However, in a bizarre twist, another message was sent to the station from another Kira purporting that this Kira was only an impostor with the same 'power', which was admitted and, after which, the two continued to use the station to correspond in order to meet without detection by L and police authorities._"

The host took a long pause as the shuffling of papers could be heard. Lloyd checked his speedometer.

"_Now as we and many other outlets have noted, Kira disappeared in early 2009 with no explanation offered by L, leaving the entire ordeal quite a mystery. However, Kira appears to have returned this year and this time, he has killed Bilderberg, European royalty and the Trilateral Commission. Yes, you heard me right. Global elites associated with these secret organizations that have manipulated world affairs from behind the scenes for decades have been killed off en masse through apparently spontaneous combustion. The only explanation offered thus far is Kira_," Alex paused for effect and then continued in a feigned hushed tone. "N_ow I've actually had some people come to me all nervous and ask, well, 'Alex isn't the fact that Kira's going after the New World Order now actually a good thing?' Friends, listen to me. For decades I have tirelessly been fighting these scumbags, exposing the control grid and trying to wake people up to their evil. However, I feel that the fact that Kira has killed these people hurts our cause. Because now, they will never stand trial for their heinous crimes against humanity. Now, their evil will not be exposed. I would say one thing to Kira: If your motives are the cause of liberty and the defeat of the New World Order, these tactics leave the mainstream media to paint Bilderberg and the like as martyred victims for world peace, rather than the psychotic control freaks they really are._"

Jebel laughed. Lloyd rolled his eyes as he switched stations. _Alex, soon you will see. Soon everyone will see... _Bored with the rant, he decided to switch on the miniature television. It was the BBC News.

"Enigmatic world detective L, silent on the matter since Kira's disappearance in 2009, has, with the authority of Interpol, urged the BBC and other major European media networks to relay this live audio message in the wake of Kira's apparent reappearance," the announcer related. After a moment, the screen played a blank screen with a single L in cloister black type.

"_Kira, this is L."_

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. _L? Then that means...he has come to me._

Jebel looked from Lloyd to the miniature television and back, a devious smile coming to her lips. "How interesting!" she exclaimed.


	9. ANTAGONISM

**ANTAGONISM**

"_**Kira, this is L,"**_the distorted voice intoned.

_L? But L is…dead. Contacts within the White House confirmed that the reason for forming the SPK was because the Japanese had replaced L with a fake. Fake L disappeared in 2009, although most of the world was ignorant of the deception, leading some to speculate that L and Kira were the same. So…either this is the fake L or…N of the SPK, _Lloyd's thoughts raced like the engine of his car. He took out his phone and ran a search to determine where the message was being broadcast. _Is this a trick to determine my location? _After a few moments, he had found the same message playing on major networks across Western Europe. _So he has deduced that much…not bad. Nonetheless, there's no danger for me to act in response to this message._

"_**I wish to inform you that we of the Special Provision for Kira Task Force (SPKTF), have taken notice of your recent spate of mass murders. But don't write me off just yet, for I have already deduced exactly how you kill. ."**_

_My killing method? Is he bluffing? **'Write me off'? **__Was that a deliberate codeword? _But…if that's true, and he has learned of the existence of the notebook… A dark smile came to his face. _Then where is the notebook that he discovered now? If I can get a hold of it, I will have two. There would be many uses for it. Nonetheless, I have to assume he knows about the notebook, Reapers…everything. Otherwise, I could have false confidence, which would be disastrous._

"_**Know this, we of the SPKTF will catch you and bring you to justice for your crimes."**_

"He sounds pretty confident," Jebel teased, but Lloyd waved a hand at her in annoyance.

"_**That is all for now. Kira, I have a feeling we will be in contact soon. Till then."**_

With that, the screen returned to the normal BBC and, after watching for a few more moments of pointless commentary, Lloyd switched it off wearily.

"So what are you going to do now?" Jebel asked. "Are you going to try and kill him?"

"First, I should show him what I'm trying to accomplish," Llloyd replied. "I desire liberation, not to rule in these bastards' stead, after all. If, after that, he still makes himself my enemy, I will have to kill him, of course. And all who stand against liberty." _I predicted this. Now that the so-called 'L' has revealed himself, I can act._

He pulled off the road into a parking space and took out his phone once more. Dialing the number for his father, he waited. It rang a few times and then a distinct voice came on the line. "This is de Bauer."

"Father," Lloyd intoned, suppressing the urge to vomit as he tasted bile at the term. "Have you seen the broadcast?"

"Yes," Salomon replied. "It seems L has finally come out of hiding."

"I think we should offer financial support to his investigation. To the best of our knowledge, L is only working with a small group of individuals. He lacks numbers and manpower," Lloyd mused. "Father!" he exclaimed suddenly to make his next suggestion sound impulsive. "Not only should we offer to fund his operations, but we should mobilize our agents at Scotland Yard, FBI, Interpol, NPA, CIA, MI6, NSA and the others to publicly express statements of support and offer their services to L in order to catch Kira as quickly as possible."

"That's a good idea," Salomon concurred. "I will meet with the heads of the other families and raise the issue."

_Excellent! _Lloyd smiled at the simplicity of this man. _Nonetheless a man who has conquered the world more thoroughly than all the Caesars or Hitlers before… _"It will also allow us to keep tabs on the progress of the investigation," Lloyd explained, realizing he should suggest it before it came to his father's mind. It would be less suspicious that way just in case. "We know how secretive L can be and we don't want to be left out of the loop in this situation. The stakes are too high, especially for people like us." Lloyd suppressed the urge to laugh hysterically at that last comparison, 'people like us'. _I am nothing like you _

"I agree with that as well," Salomon replied.

"However, we don't know how to reach him at present," Lloyd added.

"Quillish Wammy, once known as Watari, our only contact to L, was reported as dead in 2004," Salomon explained.

"Killed by Kira?" Lloyd suggested.

"Due to the timing, most likely," Salomon agreed. "However, I will have our agents thoroughly search for a new contact. There must be one."

"Someone must have been sent from L to mobilize the networks involved in the broadcast. Focus on them," Lloyd decided. "Police cooperation was also obtained for the transmission, so there may be information there as well."

"Very good. I shall relay your information," Salomon finished. "And if this gets worse, it might be a good idea to share what you've learned with L. After all, you were following the Kira case for some time. I imagine there are many things you learned that someone like him might overlook."

Lloyd smiled. "Perhaps," was his only reply.

With that the call was ended and Lloyd restarted his engine. _L, I will overwhelm your investigation with so many volunteers whether you like it or not. I will be informed of your progress, the names of those who are working with you, how you conduct the operations, and, indeed, any details I desire. This kind of infiltration warfare is a specialty of mine. From your point of view, it is very unlucky that I have become Kira._

"So your plan is to plant spies around this 'L'," Jebel said. "What if he traces them to you? Wouldn't that make you even more suspicious?"

"These agents of which I speak do not know me and have never even heard my voice," Llloyd countered. "They work within their respective organizations and are paid official salaries. The money will be sent to L through several intertwining channels, trust funds and tax-exempt foundations, all publicly calling for Kira's arrest. L will be forced to cooperate or face public scrutiny, for such a refusal would be quite suspicious. The agents in question won't even realize they are spies."

"Well, I'll be here to laugh when something goes wrong," Jebel teased.

Lloyd scowled. "You've been with me only a short time, Jebel so you don't know what I'm capable of yet. But I'll show you—and the world."

"Bold words," was Jebel's only retort. "Where are we going?" she added.

"Somewhere more quiet than here," was Lloyd's only reply, illuminated by a soft smile.

Jebel scowled.

Their banter was interrupted, however, by the sound of Lloyd's phone receiving a text message. Focusing on the road, which was experiencing some temporary congestion, Lloyd tossed it absently at Jebel who struggled to catch it.

"Hey!" Jebel exclaimed disapprovingly.

"Read it, would you?" Lloyd asked absently, his voice sounding extremely bored.

_The audacity of this human! _Jebel silently raged, staring at him with her mouth agape. _Still, it's…alluring. He moves with such extreme confidence…it's hard not to believe he'll win. Still, if this 'L' really knows about the notebook, Lloyd will have a hard time. _"It reads: "_The contact name is Anthony Rester. He approached Interpol under orders from L and used them to coerce the European networks into broadcasting the message," _Jebel read aloud.

_Well, that was fast! _"Is there a number or an e-mail address?" Lloyd inquired.

"Yes, there's a string of ten numbers," Jebel replied.

"It's called a telephone number," Lloyd explained. Taking the phone from her large hand, he composed a short text to one of his agents with the information embedded. _Now, we proceed._

**…**

"Still nothing?" Ide lamented as he strode into the room with a fresh cup of coffee. Restlessness was etched upon his aging features.

"Near hasn't come out yet," Matsuda whispered in reply.

Ide took his seat and opened the lid to one of the laptops. _Suppose I should run a search for any recent news on Kira…_

Matsuda leaned back into the couch, apparently doing nothing. His hair was disheveled as well, untouched since the day before.

"Good morning everyone," Lidner intoned as she strode in, wearing her typical no-nonsense expression.

"Ah, good morning Halle," Matsuda ventured with a smile, earning him a furtive scowl from Ide and returned by a not-so furtive shrug.

"Where is Near?" Lidner asked.

"He hasn't come out yet apparently," Ide explained, but then realized his tone was all wrong. "Sorry," he added. "I'm just a little tired I guess."

Lidner nodded. "I don't see Rester around either," she mused.

"Ah, he said he was really busy and rushed out early," Aizawa explained as he strode in the room.

There was a moment of silence, abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Everyone," Near announced as he too emerged from the hall, wearing that same simple, oversized white shirt, its sleeves extending well past his fingertips.

All eyes turned toward him in anticipation.

Taking his seat in the high back chair, he spun around once and faced them. "Police and intelligence operatives from all the major industrialized nations have pledged official support to our investigation," Near related, letting it sink in for a moment.

"Awesome!" Matsuda explained. "It's about time we got some recognition."

"Alright, continue…" Aizawa urged.

"In addition, generous financial contributions have been donated to the account maintained by Rester, marked for furthering our investigation capabilities," Near added.

"That's quite something," Ide remarked.

"The agents from the aforementioned agencies have volunteered their service to whatever tasks are required by the investigation," Near finished.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Lidner quipped.

"You remember our affair with Mello and his spies," Near mused. "That is why you are so quick to raise such an objection. However, it is the same with me. This poses a problem for us."

"W-Why?" Matsuda stammered.

"Rester's phone has been swamped with messages from such officials all around the world, trying to get into contact with me to receive orders. Their actions are also being publicized by the media. To refuse their cooperation would be quite troublesome for us now. However, accepting it means opening up our investigation to literally hundreds of individuals. We have no way of conducting sufficient checks on so many people. We would have no sure way to prevent leaks of sensitive information," Near explained. "With the profile we have constructed of Kira thus far, it is not unreasonable to assume that with his wealth and connections, he would be capable of organizing such a venture. In fact, if that were the case, it would play right into his hands. To investigate me under the pretense of investigating Kira." _Damn this!_

Aizawa scowled. "So what should we do then?"

Matsuda fell silent.

"As I said, it is an offer we are unable to refuse. This too would be part of Kira's plan. However, I also have a plan," Near replied with a haughty smile. "We will publicly accept their cooperation and their financial support. We will move our operation to Western Europe. I know of a location in Britain that is ideal for our needs. We will be forced to reveal what we know of this Kira: his profile and the connections between the deaths and Bilderberg, but absolutely nothing of the notebook must be uttered. We have kept that a secret all these years and now is not the time for such information to become public. We will assign the agents to conduct the massive investigation and surveillance of the European families in the top 1% income bracket, as we discussed before. With so many men, we should be able to narrow down our suspects much more quickly."

"Great idea," Gevanni remarked, causing all heads to turn in surprise. Gevanni was calmly leaned against the wall, as if he had been there the whole time.

_It's incredible the way he can move without being detected_, Matsuda thought enviously.

"Gevanni," Near greeted. "Even though I am relegating the operation to our new partners, I want you to manage, organize and lead the investigation of the families in question. No one is more suited for this task than you. "

Gevanni nodded. _Of course._

"Rester has already flown to the U.K. to make the necessary preparations for our arrival—" Near added.

"—Why Britain?" Matsuda interjected.

"Because the British government offered the most generous accommodations and asked the fewest questions," Near replied. "Which leads me to suspect that Kira may be behind that as well and possibly hiding in Britain. However, even if he is not, we will have ready access to investigate upon the mainland. As I said, Rester will sweep the facility and make sure no bugs, taps or video surveillance equipment have been installed, but keep in mind Britain has one of the most authoritarian governments in the world and the amount of surveillance equipment used on the public is staggering. You will have to be extremely careful when in the open as Kira may have a proxy with the Eyes or multiple agents scanning video to search for us and our names."

"Even if he discovered our names, he would have no way of knowing we are involved in the investigation from that alone," Aizawa countered.

Near fell silent.

_It's because you used the notebook on Mikami! _Matsuda's mind screamed. _You're afraid he'll see the fact that you have no lifespan._

"But if Kira is behind the sudden cooperation of international authorities—" Near began.

"—Isn't it also plausible, however," Matsuda interjected. "That the authorities are simply fed up, especially in the wake of the murder of several royal heads and prominent businessmen. That would drive a certain amount of hysteria, even paranoia, in certain circles, perhaps enough to drive them to pressure the governments into supporting our investigation in order to catch Kira quicker?"

Near scowled, annoyed by Matsuda's interruption. "Regardless, the manner in which this being done, orchestrated covertly and simultaneously, and the timing make it very suspicious," he countered. "Till proven otherwise, I ask you all to investigate within the framework of my assumptions. I have yet to be wrong."

"Very well, Near," Aizawa agreed, casting a threatening glance Matsuda's way.

"I wonder why this Kira hasn't killed anyone in several days though," Ide mused.

Matsuda nodded. "It does seem strange to kill so many so quickly and then…nothing."

"Could it be that he thinks that if he eliminates everyone he wants quickly and then keeps quiet, he won't be caught?" Lidner suggested. "Because he doesn't realize we know about the notebook?"

"Based on the profile, this Kira's motive cannot be private gain, for we have determined he already possesses extraordinary wealth. However, it is possible," Near conceded. "That power may be his goal. After all, several powerful individuals have been murdered, leaving a vacuum behind. And our understanding of their power has only grown with the revelation of Bilderberg. Though, I still believe it would seem strange, given his current position, it is not impossible. We simply need more clues."

"Then let's get back to work," Gevanni remarked. "And find some."


	10. SCHEMES

**SCHEMES**

The whispers in the large hall were almost deafeningly loud as a lone figure strode to the front carrying a single briefcase. Turning to face the room, he was met by the stare of over seven hundred faces. They were some of the best the world's intelligence and police agencies had to offer—FBI, CIA, NSA, Metropolitan Police, MI5, CISC, Mossad, NCIS, all pledging their skill, support and resources to 'L', the enigmatic detective, called the 'world's greatest' by some, in order to catch the "psychic killer Kira".

_Or at least that's what they think_, Rester mused as he carefully opened the briefcase and took out a single laptop. Running on its own battery cells, it would not have to be plugged into the building's systems, preventing any potential cyber attacks. The projector, however, he did plug in, aligning its focus with the laptop. Suddenly upon the screen appeared the distinct image of a large L in cloister back type.

The whispers rose in volume as excitement filled the place.

"_**Greetings everyone. This is L. First I wish to thank you for coming to hear me on behalf of your respective service organizations. I am confident that, together, we will soon catch Kira."**_

Rester descended from the stage and took a seat nearby the equipment so as not to distract anyone, although from the absolute silence which had overtaken the room, such distraction was unlikely.

"_**The information I am about to share with you is confidential and to be kept strictly within this investigation. Do not share anything with the media or any other organization or individual, even your families." **__Which, of course, I already know will not happen_. _**"I have narrowed down Kira's identity to within 2,000 individuals."**_

Near let that set in for a moment and then continued. **"**_**Furthermore, these 2,000 individuals are within the top 1% income level of Europe, comprising around only 200 families." **__How will you react, Kira? To the fact that I am using your own scheme against you? __**"I have not the manpower or technical resources to investigate this number. Therefore, your current task, is to conduct a systematic investigation of these families, which are included in the file given to each of you by Rester. You are expected to proceed with extreme caution: do not be discovered and, unless absolutely necessary, do not give out your real names. Take detailed notes concerning your findings—report anything suspicious and send your findings to Rester who will relay it to me for analysis. Among you are the world's foremost profilers, behavioral and psychoanalysts, criminal investigators, and surveillance technicians; I am confident, therefore, that if you perform carefully and admirably, we will catch Kira. Please relay this information to your respective service organizations at large. Goodbye for now."**_

With that, the room was once more overtaken by frenzied conversation as the message was excitedly discussed among the participants.

Rester calmly retrieved the laptop and paused to survey the room once more. _Could this Kira really bring together all these people? It would seem far too risky to turn these minds loose on him. Near seems sure though…_

**…**

Jebel stalked up the long ornate staircase, an impatient look upon her otherworldly face. Interpenetrating the door, she came upon Llloyd seated at his blackwood desk in front of a laptop, deep in thought.

"What are you up to?" the Reaper inquired.

"I'm thinking of how to deal with this L," Lloyd replied absently.

A thought suddenly occurred to Jebel, something she realized would interest the young man seated before her. She smiled deviously.

"Lloyd, do you think you could give me some more of that, what was it you called it, _cheese_?" Jebel asked innocently. "I'll tell you something really useful in return."

"Huh?" Lloyd mumbled, turning towards her. "Oh, of course." Picking up his cell phone, he dialed a number. "Yes, could you please deliver some…_Pule _cheese to my door. About half a kilo. I'll take it from you there. Thank you." Setting the phone down, Llloyd stood to his feet and went to the door. "Keep quiet," he added to Jebel.

In a moment, there was a rap on the door and Lloyd opened it to take a platter that Sebastian had brought, stocked with a pound of _Pule _cheese. From the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve in Serbia, it was made from donkey milk, at _€1,000 a pound!_

Jebel smiled upon seeing the platter, which Lloyd set upon a corner of the desk.

"Try not to make a mess," he added.

Jebel shook her head. Lloyd had absently given her some cheese the other day and she had found it delicious. It was so rich and creamy and salty, oh so salty, like nothing she had ever tasted. At least that she could remember. And there were so many different kinds!

Greedily, she picked at the cut of cheese, savoring each monstrous bite. Every now and then she would be forced to brush away a tangle of wild jet hair from her face. "This is delicious," she moaned.

"It ought to be, for such a price," Lloyd said as he sat back down but turned toward Jebel and leaned gently against the desk. "You had something to tell me?" he reminded her.

"Right, right," she replied, her mouth still full. Swallowing, she continued, "Do you think Reapers watch television or browse the…internet?"

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "I suppose not."

"But yet we have killed humans by writing names in our notebooks for millenia, extending our lives. How do you suppose we discover their names," Jebel pressed.

Lloyd stood to his feet abruptly, realization dawning in his eyes. "You must…be able to see them!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Jebel smiled. "That's right. We can see them by looking at their face. Right now I can see your true name and your lifespan. And more than that, there is a way for me to give this power to you."

Now Lloyd smiled. "How, Jebel?"

"Well…" Jebel paused. "We can make a trade. I will give you the Eyes of the Reaper in exchange for…half of your current lifespan."

The smile faded from Lloyd's face and Jebel twitched. "Half of my lifespan?" Lloyd repeated. "And what is my remaining lifespan?"

"I can't tell you that," Jebel countered. "It's a rule among us Reapers. We are not free to do whatever we want you know—we have laws and if they're broken, the penalties are harsh."

"Well, Jebel, I won't make such a trade," Lloyd replied. "The only name I am unaware of is this L and a single name isn't worth half my life. I do not intend to let my revolution kill me. I will live in the free world that I liberate. I'm sure you understand."

"Well, I just thought you should be aware of the possibility," Jebel replied, returning her attention back to the cheese.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang. Absently he checked number. It was from his father.

"Father?" he inquired, as he answered the call.

"Lloyd, our agents sent their account of L's progress in the investigation thus far," Salomon began.

Lloyd smiled, despite himself. _I knew this would work_

"L has apparently determined that Kira is among the top 1% income bracket families in Western Europe and has tasked the coalition with investigating and conducting surveillance upon each of these families to find Kira," Salomon explained.

Lloyd's smile vanished, replaced by a grim look Jebel had never seen. His hand was made into a fist and his teeth ground into an almost snarl. _Damn this! He's using my own coalition against me… No, I have to keep calm for now. _"Then, it's possible that Kira is someone within our own circles?" Lloyd repeated, feigning shock.

"Exactly," Salomon agreed. "This is quite a troubling development. Our family, too, will fall under this investigation. On the one hand, if L is right than I desire that Kira be caught as quickly as possible. But on the other hand, I am uncomfortable about letting our family be probed. What do you suggest?"

Lloyd paused, choosing his words very carefully. "I, too, am adamant about catching Kira. And if Kira is among our own circles, then all the more. He could do terrible damage from such a position. Thus I think we should allow the investigation to proceed. However, we cannot afford to allow the investigation to become an excuse for the curious to pry into our family secrets or business ventures. We have the best security systems and procedures in place. So I, with your agreement, will instruct the servants to answer any questions as honestly as they can, except in private and financial matters, and show them around if they wish. This should satisfy the investigators."

"I suppose that sounds reasonable," Salomon replied. "Although we have not had commoners in the house for centuries. But what of giving information on others within our circle? They will undoubtedly request such details so as to know where to look. The same dilemma confronts me-such people are our allies, business partners and even relatives."

"Father, if Kira is among our circles, it is far too dangerous to leave him alone," Lloyd countered. He would have to choose his next words_ extremely_ carefully. After all, Salomon de Bauer was a sharp man and his affluent position was proof enough of this fact. He was one of three brothers but he had surpassed them all and taken over leadership of the family. Such was the way the family made sure that the most cunning received the most power. "We cannot afford any more potential damage to our system. "

Salomon sighed. "I know your right but…"

"-And another thing. If Kira is working with a large organization or perhaps several wealthy families in some kind of purge in order to take control or gain profit—

Salomon blanched. _I hadn't considered that possibility_

"—then their removal would not exactly be harmful to our interests. In fact we could…pick up where they leave off once L has caught them," Lloyd finished, holding his breath.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "…Your right there too," Salomon replied much more cheerfully. "I leave it in your capable hands then. Make us proud."

Lloyd smiled. _You are so predictable because your interests are so few._

With that the call was ended and Llloyd returned it to his pocket. However in a moment, his face completely changed, twisting into a contorted glare. He slammed his fists into the table and let out an enraged shout.

"Damn that bastard!"

"I hath never seen you lose composure like this," Jebel remarked in astonishment, confused by the display.

"How?" Llloyd began muttering, ignoring her. "How could he narrow it down like this? I was so careful to spread everything out. None of it could be traced to me. Where was my mistake?"

Jebel walked up behind Lloyd's back and did something that surprised herself. She placed one of her long hands on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"What are you doing?" Lloyd whirled around, his eyes glaring.

Like a switchblade, Jebel retracted her hand and started to speak but fell silent. She had no real explanation. "N-Nothing," she stammered.

Llloyd continued to stare at her for a moment and his features softened. "I'm sorry, Jebel. It's not your fault."

Jebel looked at the human before her with renewed curiosity. _A human who...apologizes to a Reaper?_

After an awkward silence, Lloyd said simply, "Excuse me for a moment,"and opened the door and headed down the stairs.

Making his way to the liquor cabinet, he took out a bottle of Louis XIII's "Black Pearl" cognac, blended from 1200 different _eau-de-vie_ ranging in age from 40 to 100 years. So exclusive it's sold by invitation only and even looking at the product online requires a password.

Returning to the main hall, near the staircase, he encountered Sebastian along the way.

"Anything I can do for you my lord?" Sebastian asked with customary etiquette, self consciously pulling his dark braid around his shoulder.

"Yes," Lloyd replied, motioning for him to come closer.

When he did so, Lloyd's voice fell to a whisper. "Some investigators may come to the house soon. They are part of a coalition to catch Kira. I want you to answer their questions as honestly as possible but, under no circumstances, are you to reveal any family secrets or business matters you may be aware of. I am trusting you to inform the other servants of this and hold them to it. Do you understand?"

Sebastian looked puzzled, but replied, "Yes."

"You may show them around the house and even allow them to look around on their own if they wish. However, they are not permitted in the bedrooms, studies or offices," Lloyd continued.

Sebastian nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh, and Sebastian, make sure you provide them with _ample_ refreshments," Lloyd added with a smile, raising the bottle of cognac slightly.

With that Lloyd took his leave and ascended back up the stairs. He checked his Patek Philippe platinum watch for a moment. _It's rather late._

When he had returned to his room, he poured a glass of cognac for himself—drank it quickly—and then poured another.

He turned the lights down very low and, grabbing the death notebook, fell into his bed, turning on his side.

Jebel stared at Lloyd rather puzzled, but shrugged and finished her cheese.

**…**

"Near, without knowledge of the notebook, how will the investigators be able to pinpoint Kira? I mean, without knowing what they're looking for, they could easily be deceived or misdirected," Matsuda asked in between bites from a sandwich.

"Matsuda, I don't expect them to find Kira. I don't even want them to find Kira—if they did, the notebook could pass into world knowledge and _that _would be very dangerous," Near replied, exasperated.

"Nations would probably go to war in order to obtain such a weapon," Aizawa mused.

"I expect them to find who Kira is _not_. I gave them this task for several reasons—to occupy them for the time being so they do not put pressure upon us, to quickly go through a list that would take us, with our small numbers, a very long time, to provide a list so that _I _can match individuals to our profile, compare them, and narrow it down further, to provide enough pressure to perhaps trouble Kira or worry him into acting even more suspicious, angry, or forcing his hand to do something reckless and identify himself further, and to reveal to Kira that we know what kind of person he is. I imagine that Kira is very angry about that right now," Near explained.

"So what we'll we do in the meantime?," Ide asked.

"We will analyze their findings here and continue to monitor the media for further activity by Kira. Remember our suspect is only Kira while he is murdering. When he is not, he will appear like a normal person. We must not fall for this," Near urged. "Gevanni will be in direct communication with us and on the ground. He knows what we're looking for. It should suffice. I will have him make a double pass over those families that show merit. And meanwhile, we will conduct the _true investigation_."

"_True_ investigation?" Mogi asked, surprising everyone.

"Yes," Near repeated. "We will investigate the ones responsible for the organizing and funding of the coalition given to us. That will be a much smaller list of subjects—although if Kira is responsible, I imagine he will have purposefully spread it out, if his past record is any indication. Now we obviously can't use the investigators to do this..."

Matsuda smiled, swallowing. "So while you use the investigators to…pretend to investigate this long list of families, keeping them off our trail, we will conduct the secret, true investigation into the real ones behind it?"

"Precisely, Matsuda," was Near's only reply.

"That's awesome!" Matsuda exclaimed. It seemed that the years had not stolen any of his youthful energy or exuberance. "Kira will be distracted by the large coalition, unaware of the net we're spreading for him."

Aizawa smiled at him. _Despite his irritation, he is still a good man_

"Do not be overconfident, however," Near warned. "Overconfidence leads to mistakes."

However, despite Near's warnings, everyone could tell there was a renewed excitement in the room, after weeks of seeming stagnancy.

**…**

Jebel hated when humans slept. "The one time, when nothing interesting is happening," she muttered wearily. She hated having to wait six or so hours, depending on his mood, for Lloyd to wake up. Even when he was in public and he wouldn't talk to her was better than this. At least there was something to watch there.

However after a moment, she heard a faint sound coming from Lloyd's direction. It sounded like…a voice?

"_From somewhere deep below the earth, this is Coast to Coast AM with George Noory," _the voice said in a low drawl.

"_Tonight we're covering the Kira killings and taking your calls. If you have a theory about how Kira kills, give us call at this special number. We'd love to hear from you", _George said.

"Lloyd?" Jebel called softly.

"Hmm?" Lloyd replied.

Jebel stood abruptly to her feet and stalked over to him. Towering over his laying form, she peered over to see him with a pen writing in the notebook. On the stand beside him sat a small satellite radio streaming an international station.

"_I think Kira is an alien who's killing Earth's leaders to prepare the way for his alien invasion!" _a caller announced.

"_Oh that's…an interesting theory_," George replied.

They looked at each other for a moment. Neither spoke.

"Humans can have quite an imagination," Lloyd covered. "At this point, I don't care what people say about me-so long as they don't tell the truth!"

"W-Who are you killing?" Jebel stammered, changing the subject.

"If this L knows about the notebook, he must have learnt about it from the former Kira. That means he is at least five years my superior," Lloyd explained. "I need to learn everything I can about this power. I'm testing its uses right now."

Jebel blinked.

"Tell me, Jebel," Lloyd began. "Are all Reaper notebooks the same?"

"No," Jebel replied. "Some are different colors, for example," she replied.

"_I think Kira is really a secret society of psychics who are trying to take over the world," _a caller declared.

"_Well, Kira's killing method certainly defies rational observation. And many investigators have suggested some kind of bio-psychokinetic ability_," George replied.

"And do they all have the same rules," Lloyd asked.

"They all have the same rules, however…." Jebel's voice trailed off. "They do not all have the same rules written within."

Now Lloyd blinked and rolled over towards her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the rules in that one were written by the Rosicrucians who possessed it for all those years. As I said, they fancied themselves scientific occultists, and painstakingly explored the different ways to use the book, meticulously recording the most useful observations as rules within. They, of course, burned the pages containing the names of the victims of their experiments, however, to hide the evidence I suppose. But some notebooks have no rules written within them. In those cases, the Reapers simply explain the basic rules to their finder. Other notebooks, have only a few basic rules written within. It all depends on the whims of the Reaper."

Lloyd paused. _So which did Near find? A notebook with basic or detailed rules? Or no rules at all? _"What is most common among Reapers?"

"Well, Reapers are lazy these years," Jebel replied. "So it would be rare for them to spend much time writing rules."

_Well at least that's in my favor_, Lloyd thought.

Jebel took a seat on the bed, beside Lloyd. "What tests are you conducting?" she asked.

"_I think Kira is really a top secret government extermination program, and they started conducting their tests on criminals first. But soon they're gonna turn that thing loose on us all and exterminate most of us so the rich can rule!" _a caller suggested.

"_But that doesn't explain why some very rich and powerful people are being killed now?" _George countered gently.

"_Well, that's probably a purge by the really rich and powerful to take over," _the caller replied.

"_Alright, it's possible. Thanks for the call_," George replied blandly.

"I'm determining how far I can control my victims before they die and for how long, for one," Lloyd replied. "I've also been extensively reading the rules you wrote here. I figured it'd be wise to memorize them. There are a lot of interesting ways to combine these rules. Tell me, if I wrote a name on say, just a piece of a page, would that person die?"

"Yes, they would die," Jebel replied.

"Interesting," Lloyd muttered. "I could find a variety of uses for this. I always worry when I take the notebook out with me in my briefcase. With this…if I can just hide a piece somewhere on my person..."

Sitting up, he took out a stiletto blade and carefully cut a single page out, making sure it was very clean and left no evidence that such a page had ever been there.

Standing to his feet, he took the page and opened a small printer. Replacing the normal paper with the page from the notebook he shut the lid and checked the printer's call number. Opening his laptop, he ran a search on a private database for a violent American criminal recently imprisoned. Opening his cell phone, he dialed the 4-digit number and used its keypad to enter text—the name of the criminal and the word "suicide by drowning in his cell toilet".

Lloyd smiled as he watched the printer impress the text upon the torn page in black ink.

_Now to see if this works…_

Jebel could only stare in bewilderment. _Using it like this…?_


	11. MODIFICATIONS

**MODIFICATIONS**

"Near!" Ide shouted as he came running in through the door, carrying a large stack of papers…which scattered to the air when he collided with Matsuda who had just rounded the corner.

"Matsuda!" Ide shouted angrily as he stood to his feet, rubbing his forehead. "Look at this mess!"

"Me?" Matsuda protested. "That was totally your fault, Ide!"

"Whatever," Ide replied, putting his hands up in surrender. "Just help me clean this up."

"Sure," Matsuda replied, stooping down to help gather some of them up.

Together, the pair walked into the large hall, dubbed the "war room" by Matsuda, and set the stack of mismatched papers on the glass table wearily.

"Ide, Matsuda, you're right on time," Near greeted from amidst a large swathe of toy race track, expanding outward in several complicated loops and circles. His eyes shining like an excited child, betraying the bland look on his features, he carefully placed the toy car on the track and sent it off. Down and down it went, gaining speed as it trailed several loops, launching from ramp to ramp and winding its way around the room.

Matsuda and Ide followed the car with their eyes, enthralled for some reason, as it finally mounted the last ramp and zoomed off into the air, falling to the ground and rolling for several feet in a wild spin.

Ide and Matsuda blinked twice. They looked at each other. Neither spoke.

Returning his attention back to the two investigators, Near continued, "The first sweeps by our coalition in Europe have been reported by Gevanni. There is quite a lot to look over. So please attend to that with the others."

"What about the _true _investigation?" Matsuda protested.

"Rester still hasn't cracked the sources of our funds yet," Near explained. "It certainly _is _suspicious after all. Till then you might as well help out with this. I have to pack up for our trip."

Ide and Matsuda peered around to find Aizawa, Mogi and even Lidner going through several stacks worth of files, double checking their laptops, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Matsuda sighed hopelessly, feeling like a martyr resigning himself to something unpleasant.

Taking their seats across from Mogi and Aizawa, who regarded them with little more than a half-hearted nod, the two got to work, taking out several files to examine.

"The Otto family," Ide read. "Headed by Michael Otto, they own 75% of the $17.5 billion mail order company Otto GmbH, 50% of the home furnishings chain Crate & Barrel and extensive real estate in the U.S. and Canada."

"The Latsis family," Lidner read. "Worth $9.1 billion, owns EFG Group, a private banking firm and the PrivatAir jet charter service."

"The Rausing family," Mogi added. "Owns the $11 billion packager Tetra Laval."

"The Ferrero family," Matsuda read. "One of Europe's largest chocolate makers with a $10 billion fortune."

"Right, Matsuda! Because Kira is obviously a chocolate maker! Use your head," Aizawa scolded, clearly at his wits end.

Before Matsuda could make a defense, however, Near spoke up. "Aizawa is right. Everyone, do you really believe, from what we know of this Kira, that he could be a chocolate maker, or industrial packager, or home furnisher? Could a chocolate maker, no matter how wealthy, organize an international coalition of intelligence and police experts and have them sufficiently—no abundantly-funded? Could a home furnisher have the kind of influence to pressure the government like that?"

"Your right," Ide agreed. "If you think about it, Kira can't be just a generic billionaire."

"So what occupation would offer Kira the clout, connections and ability to do these things?" Near asked carefully.

"It would have to be…either politics, banking or arms manufacture," Aizawa answered. "Those are the greatest holds an individual could have over the state."

Near nodded. "Please focus on individuals within those fields for the time being."

With that, the group returned to examine the files before them.

"Why does Kira have to be among such boring people? Why couldn't Kira be a super model this time?" Matsuda lamented. "I would enjoy looking through pages of supermodels," he added with a smile.

"Matsuda!" Ide scolded. "Stay serious for a change!"

Lidner merely scowled, her eyes like ice.

"H-Here's one… The Schroder family," Matsuda read. "Director of financial service company Schroders Plc, managing $186 billion for his clients in 26 countries, with a personal 47% stake. And they live in the U.K.!"

"How much do they personally have though?" Near inquired.

"Looks like…$2.5 billion," Matsuda replied.

Near shook his head. "Seems too small for this," he replied. "Given all the other billionaires we've found, someone like that would likely use the note to amass more wealth for them self and rise to the top. However, this Kira has done nothing with any discernible economic benefit. Therefore, I conclude Kira must have abundant wealth as it is. Please keep at it. Rester is working hard at discovering the forces behind the coalition. When he does, I'm confident will see our break through."

**…**

"Were the tests successful?" Jebel inquired when Lloyd entered the room. However, she was rather taken aback by the look on his face—he almost looked…_exuberant_.

"Yes," Llloyd replied softly, firmly closing the thick door.

Making his way to the desk, he sat down to collect his thoughts, loosening his tie. "It doesn't matter where I am in relation to the notebook—so long as my will is the force behind the writing of the name and I know their face…" Lloyd muttered. _Additionally, the serial killer followed the details I wrote to the letter without arousing any suspicion…as of yet… the newscaster continues to display the small tick I specified before and after each show…when he_ _fails to show up for work, I'll know I've reached the limit…and he will be well hidden so it's not clear that he's dead… Serves him right for constantly lying to the public and spouting praise for the government… The others failed to perform, likely because the criteria I specified was impossible, instead they died from heart attacks, which could be a real problem for me. L will undoubtedly take notice of the heart attacks…_

"The Queen is speaking to the country, today," Lloyd remarked absently to Jebel, turning on the television. "She's related to me, you know."

And just as he said, every station was playing the same thing—the Queen of England herself standing before a massive crowd of supporters, police and media crews. She was delivering a speech of some sort about international interdependence and global cooperation and recommending greater power surrendered to the European Union. However, she soon came to a subject of particular interest to Lloyd—Kira.

"_I want to personally address the killer now_," the Queen began, causing a media frenzy. "_The world has watched as you have murdered many good, honorable people, some of them my very cousins. But we will watch no longer. This country and indeed the entire world, cannot suffer the presence of a clear terrorist such as yourself. Worldwide authorities have shifted their focus to one end—catching you and bringing you to justice. Do you really think you will be able to hide much longer?"_

_Is she an idiot? _Lloyd stared at the screen in disbelief.

"_No, you will surely be caught!" _the Queen continued, her voice increasing in fervency._"And the world will cheer as your reign of terror is ended!" _A few individuals erupted into enthusiastic applause but quickly fell silent when they noticed the deathly quiet that had fallen over the place. It seemed everyone was holding their breath. Waiting, expecting even, some kind of response.

Lloyd's face darkened as he took a pen from his breast pocket. Eyeing the blood-stained notebook upon his desk, he felt his pulse quicken. _Perhaps L has been distracting me from my plans for too long… I will answer them then  
_

**…**

"Hey, everybody, listen to this!" Matsuda called as he turned the volume of the television up. "The Queen of England is talking about Kira."

Aizawa stood to his feet abruptly as he stared at the screen in disbelief. "Doesn't she realize, Kira can just kill her with a flick of his wrist?"

Near's eyes were riveted to the screen as well. "This isn't good…" he muttered.

"Should someone call her office or something?" Lidner ventured.

But before anyone could make a move, their worst fears were realized. The Queen and all her expensive regalia suddenly burst into flames. Immediately panic swept through the crowd as shouts of terror filled the air. Stark onlookers simply stared at her body as her skin fell to the ground in great swathes, her agonized screams mingling with the cacophony that had taken over.

Police drew their submachine guns, sweeping them back and forth for a moment before realizing…there was no enemy to aim for.

What happened next, no one could've predicted. A throng of people made a rush and took over the stage amidst the confusion. They were youths, dressed in old worn clothing, patched and hand-darned. Taking the microphone, they shouted into the international broadcast, "_Thank you, Kira!_"

Another shouted, "_This is the revolution!_" and still another, "_Death to all tyrants!_" followed by a hail of cheers.

"What are they thinking?" Ide exclaimed in disbelief.

But Lidner's mind was on a different track. "But this will…"

However, before she could finish her sentence, several of the police officers had leveled their guns at the mob in anger, furious over the death of their beloved Queen. Without an order, they opened fire into the crowd, sending a din of shrill screams into the air as the mob scattered in all directions, although some fell in place, filled with hot metal, splattering the stage with their blood which seemed to flow almost gracefully down its sides and into the crowd.

One of the bleeding woman clutched the microphone and shouted with her dying breath, "_Kira…will…avenge us!_"

"What on earth is the media thinking?" Lidner said in exasperation, her voice rising in volume as she shook her head. "Letting this air."

Near slumped into his chair, a dark look in his eyes as he fell into deep contemplation. _Did Kira organize this mob? Where did they come from? How did they know to be there? Is this all a publicity stunt? Was he controlling the Queen, perhaps?_

**…**

Lloyd stared at the screen, a look of glee upon his sharp features. "This is even better than I could've planned!" he exclaimed.

Jebel peered down at the open notebook lying upon the desk. The last entry read: _Elizabeth Windsor, spontaneous combustion._ The Reaper smirked knowingly.

"The victory these people have given their lives for…" Lloyd muttered. "It's more important than they could have realized. Don't you see, Jebel? These revolutionaries have already deduced my _real _mission! And they've exposed state government to popular reprisal for their deaths. It's a classic strategy: Conduct small attacks against the establishment so that it becomes paranoid and institutes large scale repressive measures against the population in the hopes of finding the insurgents. The discomfort makes the people in general angry and provides the insurgents with propaganda to convince them to join in with their revolution. If you say, 'The State is evil' and then assassinate its leader, getting the state to begin crushing all manner of peaceful dissent, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and the state becomes evil in the eyes of the people regardless."

"Ah," Jebel nodded with waning interest.

"But on to other matters," Lloyd said, rising to his feet and unbuttoning his shirt, instead opting for a fashionable long sleeve. _I need to establish a suitable hiding place for this notebook. _Picking it up, he closed it and carefully secured it under the false bottom of his suitcase. _With a few pages inside this printer, I don't need to take out the notebook and can kill wherever I am without arousing suspicion… The trunk of my Veyron contains a secret compartments… It's armored and reinforced, with anti x-ray and CAT scan measures built into it. It wouldn't be hard to set a trap so that if someone were to try to force their way into it, a small explosion could be ignited and destroy the evidence… But what about this printer? I have to put it out of sight. Which means I need to bring another printer in here as a decoy… Where can I put this one? Somewhere no one will encounter it but yet I can go to without arousing suspicion? It's small…easily transportable… What about…one of the gun cabinets? It's reinforced to protect against forced entry and x-ray, requires an electronic passcode, and would likely be ignored. Perfect…_

Taking the printer into his arms, Lloyd headed out of the room down the stairs followed by Jebel and, taking a few more doors, made his way into the 'gun cabinet'. It was an entire hall filled with massive cabinets worth of shotguns, rifles, pistols and revolvers, automatic and semi-automatic, including several exotic and historical types. _And some of the cabinets are empty_, Lloyd smiled.

Locking the door behind him, he made his way to the fourteenth from the right and found it, as expected, empty. Carefully, he set the machine into its dark interior, positioning it in the back. _The box should still be able to receive signals because of the electronic requirements of the interface… But I need to use an internal power supply for it because a cord would be too noticeable…_

"Wow," Jebel breathed. "One of the largest problems facing owners of the notebook has been how to hide it, but you're really taking this all the way."

"None of this would work," Lloyd replied softly. "If I didn't take things all the way."

**…**

"Yes, Eriko, we're all doing well here. Yes, I hope to be back soon. Thank you. Love you too. Kiss her for me," Aizawa spoke into the phone, ending the call with a sigh. _I can't believe I have to do this all over again… I can't fathom why she stays with me_

Making his way back into the building, he went through the electronic security checks and rejoined the group, who seemed to be quite excited about _something._

"Aizawa!" Matsuda exclaimed. "Several convicts died of heart attacks last night! One in Los Angeles, one in Tokyo, one in London and one in Paris."

"What?" Aizawa shouted. "Why would he—"

"-Now we have to ask ourselves," Near interjected while packing several pieces of equipment into a cardboard box. "Why would Kira, who has till now avoided using a single heart attack, do this…and on criminals no less?"

"Is he trying to convince the world that he is the same Kira as before?" Ide suggested. "Or to satisfy the hopeful former Kira worshippers who have come out of the cracks?"

"But that doesn't make any sense at all," Near countered. "If that was his goal, he could've started that from the beginning. His behavior instead shows him almost deliberately attempting to distinguish himself from Yagami, not imitate him."

"According to the rules of the notebook we were able to discover," Aizawa began tentatively, thinking through it as he spoke. "You can control your victims before their death, but only in limited ways. If you exceed the limits, they simply die of heart attacks. These could be tests by Kira to determine the limits of his notebook."

"That's right," Matsuda chipped in. "When we were investigating with L, several prisoners died in strange circumstances. I think one drew on the wall, one escaped to the bathroom and then died or something like that. I don't remember the details. But L thought that it was proof that Kira was testing the limits of his killing abilities."

"That is a definite possibility," Near agreed. "Well done, Aizawa. It seems there are few other logical explanations for this behavior. If that's the case, it means the test failed in these cases. I suppose that's good for us."

**…**

"It's an electric double-layer capacitor," Lloyd explained, holding up the small device. It has an energy density of around 30 W-h/kg."

"What does that mean?" Jebel asked, confused.

Lloyd sighed. "Right, sorry. It means it will last for a long time and recharges very quickly."

Jebel nodded. "Thank you for explaining."

Carefully, Lloyd worked the capacitor into the cabinet to serve as a power source for the printer in the back. Opening the printer control panel, he modified the type size to 5. _At this size it should take a while to fill up the page…_

Securing the cabinet door firmly, he initiated the electronic lock and exited the room, leaving it in complete darkness.

Retrieving his briefcase, he went to a storage cabinet, searching for a few tools—a canister, some pliers and a high-powered drill.

"Do you…require anything, my lord?" Sebastian asked, a puzzled expression beneath his glasses as he eyed the tools Lloyd was carrying.

Lloyd felt like rolling his eyes. "I noticed a few weight distribution issues with my Veyron when I took it out last, so I'm going to go take a look. I'll be in the garage for a while so please make sure that I am not disturbed."

"W-Well, I could get some of the servants to attend to it," Sebastian suggested.

"No, I prefer to address the matter myself," Lloyd covered. "It's my favorite car, after all."

"Of course, my lord," Sebastian replied, scurrying off.

Alone once more, he took his massive haul and entered the garage to make the necessary _modifications _to the Veyron. Jebel could only stare in bewilderment. _What are you going to do? I suppose that's what makes it so interesting, though, your unpredictability…_

Lloyd opened the trunk and pulled a jack over to lift up the frame. Grabbing a cart, he laid down on his back and wheeled under the vehicle, drill in hand. _I need to get this done quickly. There isn't much time left…_

**…**

Ide and Matsuda were sweating profusely, darkening the armpits of their white collared shirts as they attempted to carry large box into one of the vans.

"Ugh," Matsuda strained as sweat fell from his forehead as he struggled to reach the step. "Ide, hold your end up higher."

"I…I'm…trying," Ide grunted.

Eventually the pair, _somehow_, managed to get the thing inside. They leaned against the van afterwards, catching their breath in labored gasps.

"Being a married man has really made you a wimp," Ide remarked, escaping back into the building

"H-hey now!" Matsuda protested as he took off after him.

Finally catching up to him, the two rounded the hall to find Mogi waiting.

"Near, has some more things he wants put in the van now," Mogi said.

Neither Ide nor Mastuda made a reply, but instead made their way back into the 'war room', where Near was explaining a matter to Aizawa and Lidner.

"Ah, please come and listen to this too," Near said, motioning for them. "I was explaining that as soon as we are finished packing the necessary equipment we will depart for Europe. As I said, the U.K. offered the most generous accommodations and asked the fewest questions, rather well suited to our investigation needs and style. Rester has checked the place over and had it swept. Its clean. For greater security, we will be leaving in pairs, taking separate planes, and making our way to the new headquarters several hours apart from each other. Once there, will set up and make contact with Gevanni. Any questions?"

Ide, Matsuda, Aizawa and Lidner all shook their head and with that, the packing continued.

**…**

Slowly the black sedan pulled up to the wrought iron gates, the two passengers holding their breath for downright awe at the structure before them.

"So how do we get in?" the man in the side seat, sporting a well trimmed mustache, asked.

"I suppose we wait to be seen," the driver mused, wearing a long trench coat, neatly tied at the waist.

Sure enough, the voice of a man blared out of digital speakers apparently hidden _somewhere _nearby.

"May I help you?" the voice demanded.

"Uh, yes," the driver called. "We are part of an international coalition conducting an investigation into Kira under L. Uh…if that sounds unbelievable, we have identification to prove it. We were wondering if we could ask a few questions?"

There was a pause on the other end. _So these are the people my lord was referring to. He said to allow them entry… _"Very well, I will open the gate. Please proceed along the driveway to the front doors. You will be met there."

"Thank you very much," the driver replied, flashing a smug grin to his partner. _And that's how it's done…_


	12. MISDIRECTION

**MISDIRECTION**

"Ah, there you are. Please come right this way," Sebastian said, indicating his left and holding open the massive double doors.

"Thank you," the driver replied as he made his way inside, followed by his partner.

There was an audible gasp as the two took in the breathtaking splendor and luxury surrounding them.

Sebastian smiled knowingly, even proudly.

"T-This…somebody lives here?" the driver stammered.

"Correct," Sebastian replied. "This is the British residence of the de Bauer family. Please show me your identification."

The two investigators glanced sideways at each other nervously. _L warned us about this. _Carefully they removed the fake cards from their coats and showed them to Sebastian.

Sebastian smirked. "Thank you, Mr. White and Mr. Brown. Please follow me to a more suitable lounge." _Could they have chosen more obvious aliases?_

The two investigators shrugged, following the dark-haired man through several rooms into a well furnished lounge, replete with couches, chairs, tables, books shelves and even its own bar.

"Please, be seated. My lord wishes to extend his hospitality to you. So I have refreshments," Sebastian explained, making his way over to the bar.

The driver, called Mr. White, grinned, despite himself, watching Sebastian carefully pour two cocktail brews. He worked like a master, portioning the exact amount of liquors and juices. _L never said anything about drinking on the job though…_

Now seated comfortably, the two were given their drinks, which they sipped eagerly. Sebastian seated himself across from them, crossing his leg. "Now, how may I help you gentlemen?" he asked.

"Right, right," White said, setting his drink down. Ne noticed a trickle streaming down his chin, however, and hurriedly wiped it off, cursing himself for his stupidity.

Sebastian smiled softly.

"W-Well," White began, stammering. "As I said, we are part of the Kira investigation. But it's really de Bauer that I need to speak with. It's…L's orders."

"Well, then I shall go and inform him of your arrival," Sebastian said, standing to his feet. "He is currently in the other wing, working in the garage. Till then, please enjoy your drinks."

"Uh, would it be alright if we took a look around the house," Brown ventured.

_He mentioned this as well… _"Of course," Sebastian replied. "But try not to get lost and when my lord arrives, do not keep him waiting. If you do get lost simply find one of the servants and ask to be directed back to the main lounge."

"Thank you," White said as he watched the servant leave.

His partner took a few more swigs from his drink.

"Come on," White said, standing to his feet.

"But, can't we finish our drinks first," Brown protested.

"There's time for that later. Let's investigate this place, alright?" White countered.

"Alright, I'm coming," Brown replied, joining him as they began to examine the book shelves and then made their way out into the hall, splitting up to check several other rooms.

It was a difficult task, because, as with their other assignments, they weren't sure what they were looking for. So they opened drawers, unlocked file folders, and cabinets, looking for anything "suspicious." While normally grounds for a lawsuit and instant dismissal, especially with a powerful family like this, the Kira situation had driven the authorities to an almost frenzy. They didn't really care about the means used to catch him anymore—they simply wanted him stopped. _Which gives us the handy ability to do whatever we want and get away with it_, Mr. Brown grinned.

**…**

Lloyd secured his gas mask firmly and then carefully directed the spray of the canister to the walls of the secret compartment, which was apparently an extra gasoline tank, sweeping it back and forth in broad strokes.

"What is that?" Jebel asked.

"It's nanothermite," Lloyd replied. "It contains an oxidizer and a reducing agent, dramatically increasing the reactivity. I'm spraying it on the insides of the holding tank. By shifting in a specific combination I can ignite the nanonthermite, destroying the evidence. I've controlled the amount of oxygen contained in the compound so it will only burn long enough to consume the notebook, but leave the surrounding frame undamaged. It's the same substance that was used to bring down the World Trade Center back in 2001."

"World Trade Center?" Jebel inquired.

"In order to justify an invasion of the Middle East and a comprehensive surveillance program against its citizenry, powerful figures within U.S. government conspired to destroy the World Trade Center complex in New York City and blamed it on a group of Muslim extremists it had created decades earlier in the Soviet-Afghan War. In order to ensure the success of their operation, they cut power to surveillance cameras, disarmed pilots, ordered a national stand down of the air defenses, and afterwords had the wreckage summarily confiscated."

"Did it work?" Jebel asked, as Lloyd rolled out from under the car, the notebook left behind.

"Yes, it worked," Lloyd replied, wiping the sweat from his face as he set the tools down on a nearby work table. "Of course that's not to say that there weren't people who thought it was all a lie."

Suddenly there was a firm knock on the door, drawing Lloyd's eyes.

"Yes?" he called.

"My lord, those investigators you told me about are here to see you," Sebastian replied.

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. _So I'm next on their list. _"Alright, thank you Sebastian. I'll clean up and then see them. You did make sure they received refreshment, correct?"

"Yes, my lord, just as you said," Sebastian replied.

_Excellent_, Lloyd thought as he carefully put the tools he had been working with away. After several minutes spent double checking his device, he unlocked the door and walked through, stepping past Sebastian for the bathroom. He quickly set about washing the oil and grease from his face and hands.

Returning to the main floor, he ascended the staircase into his room, followed by Jebel. Opening the closet, he perused the suits stored there. _This one should do_… he thought as he drew it out and began removing his clothes.

Jebel couldn't help but smirk as she surveyed his lean body.

**…**

Honestly, the two investigators were frustrated. There were so many rooms to go through and they didn't even know what to look for.

"I mean what does L expect, that were going to find a secret diary that says 'I am Kira' or something?" White muttered.

"We should probably head back now," Brown suggested nervously. "They could be back now. He should be able to answer our questions anyway, right?"

"I suppose you're right," White replied as he made his way back into the hall, followed by his partner.

All around other servants carried on their duties, but the two agents were painfully aware of their suspicious eyes boring into their backs.

Making their way back to the lounge, they stepped in only to find Lloyd reclining on the buttery couch, Sebastian standing at attention to his side.

White bit his lip. _Dammit, he's already here?_

Lloyd smiled.

"Welcome," Sebastian intoned dramatically. "You have now seen the man who sits at the pinnacle of the finances of Europe."

"Sebastian, please," Lloyd said softly, feigning humility. "That's really more my father. But please sit down and rejoin your drinks."

Nodding, the two investigators took their seats, apologetically taking another drink from their glasses.

"What can I do for you?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, I and my partner here, are investigating Kira under L," White explained, his voice still a bit shaky. "We were wondering if you could answer a few questions and help us with our investigation."

"Well, I know almost nothing about Kira," Lloyd replied. "Other than what a thorn he has been in the side of my family's business."

"But that's a start," Brown interjected, hurriedly writing down all that was said. "Are you aware of anyone who would hold a grudge against families like yours? Any enemies at all?"

"Well, there are, of course, all those conspiracy theorists and anarchists," Lloyd replied with a laugh. "They are always jealously complaining about our meager wealth."

"Well, actually, L has determined that Kira is part of the top 1% income bracket," Brown spoke up. "So it would be someone from within your own circles."

Lloyd's eyes appeared to flicker dangerously for a moment, but he quickly subdued it.

"Well, _I _know no one who would do such terrible things," Lloyd replied, shaking his head for effect.

Jebel laughed. Loudly. So much that Lloyd had to close his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Something wrong?" Mr. White asked.

"No, it's nothing," Lloyd assured him.

"Why don't you tell us what you do, first?" Mr. Brown suggested.

"Well, I am involved in international finance," Lloyd explained. "Through the banks I manage, I provide investment, corporate and private banking services to governments, corporations and wealthy individuals around the world as well as precise economic advice." _Well, at least that's the Sunday school version anyway_…

"Are you alone?" Mr. White asked.

"No, I live with my father, Salomon de Bauer, although he is away on business frequently, as is the case now," Lloyd replied.

Mr. White took another drink from his cocktail, but began to tap his foot impatiently. _This is getting us nowhere. We must look like idiots…good thing we have a gracious host this time._

"Well..." Mr. Brown's voice trailed off, noticing his partner's behavior. "Um, could you explain what kind of harm Kira has inflicted on your business and family?"

"Yes. Franco Bernabe was one of our vice presidents, stationed in Italy. He was killed by Kira, temporarily throwing our Italian operations into disarray and causing quite a bit of dissatisfaction on the part of our Italian clients. Additionally, there has been a 8% and growing drop in our investments, which, though it may not seem like much to you, when you consider that we deal in trillions of dollars, takes on no small amount of importance. Also…Queen Elizabeth was a relative of mine," Lloyd explained, attempting to put on a balance of pain with maturity. _It has to be convincing that I care, but not over the top…_

"Do…um…do you have something official to corroborate your statements? We were ordered collect accounts of damages Kira caused," Mr. White explained nervously.

"I suppose I could provide you with Bernabe's employee file, our latest quarterly investment report and perhaps…an official genealogy documenting the connection between my branch and the Windsors. Would that satisfy you?" Lloyd asked.

"Do you really have that all prepared?" Jebel asked, skeptical.

Both investigators were slightly taken aback. "Uh…I suppose yes, that would cover it," Mr. Brown stammered.

"It may take some time to prepare, however," Lloyd quickly warned, noting their reaction. _ I suppose it would be suspicious if I had all that prepared beforehand…_

"Well, alright then," Lloyd agreed, standing to his feet. "I will have it all prepared and sent to you…how can I contact you though?"

"Oh, please take this card. You can send it to this e-mail address," Mr. White explaining, standing to his feet and handing him a card, careful not to touch him.

Mr. Brown drank the last of his drink and stood to his feet as well. "Well thank you very much for your generous hospitality and helpful cooperation. If everyone is as cooperative as you, Kira should be caught in no time."

"Excellent, I am glad we have such fine officers fighting for us," Lloyd said, careful not to overdo the flattery. _Overdone flattery ruins every potentially beneficial relationship ever conceived…_

"We shall be off now then," Mr. White said, turning to leave.

"Sebastian, please escort them out," Lloyd turned.

"Yes of course, my lord," Sebastian replied, joining the two.

Once all had left, Lloyd allowed a small smile.

"So will they clear you of suspicion now?" Jebel asked.

"No," Lloyd replied softly. "At least, I hope not."

Jebel looked absolutely dumbfounded by that statement, so Lloyd explained. "My goal here is to, while appearing largely innocent, include just enough information to warrant being part of slightly narrowed down group that I have to believe L is using these fools to find for him. There, I will still be considered unlikely to be Kira, but I'll have another chance to get closer to this L." _Now the notebook is secure, I can kill freely without suspicion anywhere…what else to do to prepare?_

**…**

"Ugh, here we go again," Matsuda complained as he stared out of the airplane window, waiting for the pilots to start the engine.

"Would you stop whining already?" Ide asked, leaning back into the chair and closing his eyes.

Matsuda scowled.

**…**

Meanwhile, on another flight, Near and Lidner were facing the same problems—delays.

Near crouched upon his seat, playing with a rubex cube to pass the time, whilst Lidner carefully eyed each and every client who took their seat with those same suspicious eyes.

"Calm down, Lidner," Near whispered. "I planned these flights perfectly. Rester and now Gevanni are both there preparing for our arrival. We'll arrive without notice or suspicion by the authorities and, hopefully therefore, Kira, and take command at our new operations headquarters, which Rester has confirmed is clean."

"But won't the authorities at least know where we're staying since they are the ones who offered it to us?" Lidner asked.

Near smiled. "I took care of that too. In fact, I demanded that they offer two hundred separate locations and then required them to relinquish _all _of them for my investigation. Again, the fact that they accepted such a ridiculous demand only increases my suspicions about Kira being either in the Britain or having a powerful hold on the British government. But anyway, then I had Gevanni organize the European coalition investigation teams to occupy each one, except ours for the time being, which Rester and Gevanni are occupying. This will allow us to run the investigation without anyone being able to determine which of the two hundred locations we are hiding at."

"But what about—" Lidner began.

"-And if they attempt to perform a door to door search, the other facilities are instructed to report such behavior, giving us time to make our escape plan," Near interjected.

Lidner nodded. "I see. It's always so complicated."

"The only thing that bothers me about this...," Near began.

Lidner turned toward him, suddenly interested.

"Is that we aren't allowed to have cell phones on the plane," Near finished with a smile. "We really need Rester to finish finding out who organized the coalition and funded it." _When that happens, Kira… You'll have already lost. In fact, you lost the moment you sought to get near me._


	13. APPREHENSION

**Author's Note: I apologize for ignoring this story for so long. I have plenty of great ideas for it, but I wasn't receiving much traffic or feedback on it and then I got caught up writing another story which spiraled into a much greater project than I anticipated and which, due to its nature, takes up all of the time I have to spare for fanfiction. Nonetheless, I have still managed to finish another chapter (several months later) which I thought I'd publish now. Read, comment, question, whatever and hopefully soon I be able to resume a more regular updating schedule.  
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**APPREHENSION**

Lloyd stood at the large window of his room, his jaw set, staring intently out at the lush grounds below.

Jebel rolled her jaundice eyes as she bit deeply from a break of spiced cheese. "What _are _you doing?" she finally demanded.

"My father is scheduled to return today," Lloyd replied, his voice flat.

"Ah, so I will finally get to meet him, then," Jebel mused.

"I would not be too excited if I were you," Lloyd warned, still not turning away from the glass. "He is a disgusting piece of humanity, fit for nothing but the flames."

Jebel emitted a shrill laugh. "To think you'd say such a thing about your own father…what does that say about you?"

Lloyd scowled, though Jebel could only see the dim reflection.

"You hate him because you think he had your mother killed, right?" Jebel asked carefully.

Lloyd's eyes widened and he turned around slightly to face her. "It has been my suspicion for many years," he replied guardedly.

"Why?" Jebel pressed.

"The official explanation given for my mother's death was terrorism. But she was murdered while accompanied by her personal bodyguards, whom terrorists should not have been able to pass without being noticed, if at all. Also, there was no attempt made at ransom, despite our family's prodigious wealth," Lloyd explained. "Annamarie de Bauer had endured the disapproval and prejudice of the family her entire marriage, because she was only half-blood, and because of the high-profile charity work she gave herself to, which exposed the family to public scrutiny."

Turning his attention back to the window just in time, Lloyd observed a black limousine driving up the long path to the mansion. Within the back undoubtedly sat Salomon de Bauer.

Lloyd left his room and descended the staircase, followed by Jebel. "Welcome home, father," he greeted, forcing a smile.

"Thank you, Lloyd," Salomon replied, removing his sable coat and handing it to Sebastian, who stood at attention. "What do I smell?" he asked suddenly.

"I took the liberty of having dinner prepared for your arrival," Lloyd explained.

Salomon checked his watch. "We shall dine together, then. There is much to discuss."

Lloyd nodded. "Precisely," he muttered.

Making their way into the dining hall, illuminated by dark iron lamps along the walls which cast a dim amber glow throughout the room, they were greeted by a lavish spread, several servants eagerly awaiting their arrival. The whole thing, suggested by Lloyd, had been organized by Sebastian, of course, a man of unparalleled skill with such matters.

Taking their seats, one at each end of the exquisite African blackwood table, they were given dishes and glasses and served their meal.

And, without a word, the servants left the two alone, closing the doors firmly behind them.

Salomon sliced the thick slab of Kobe beef, cut from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle according to the strict tradition of Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, with a razor-sharp blade and watched the flesh separate. He placed a slice in his mouth and bit firmly, breathing deep as he enjoyed the coppery taste of the fillet.

Lloyd did likewise, aware that the only sound in the room was of two serrated knives cutting through meat into china, severing fibers. Washing the meat down with a sip of dry Chardonnay, Lloyd spoke first, breaking the silence.

"How was your trip?" he asked.

Salomon looked up. "My agent finally pressured the Kazakhs to take out a loan. It seems the proximity of the U.S. military is just the right incentive. And the interest was rather brisk. The best deals are the ones where they know exactly what they are getting but go through with it anyway because they have no other options."

Lloyd forced a chuckle.

"I could really go for some more cheese right now, Lloyd," Jebel hissed, protruding her face toward his. Lloyd, however, didn't even move a muscle.

"What of Kira? Have you brought him down yet?" Salomon inquired.

"Not just yet," Lloyd covered. "Although the coalition has been working diligently all over Europe. They even came here."

"I trust things went well?" Salomon asked, a slight concern betraying his calm exterior.

"I explained to them the damages Kira has caused our enterprise thus far," Lloyd assured him. "They seemed satisfied. They should be narrowing down a list for L's evaluation soon."

"I want to see that list," Salomon said firmly. "Especially if someone from our own circles is behind this. It's undoubtedly some sort of purge—an opportunist seeking to renew the wars between the families from centuries anon. They could ruin us."

"Don't worry, as I've said, I won't let that happen," Lloyd replied, his voice soothing.

"Not so hasty," Salomon hesitated as an idea came to him. "Remember it might be advantageous to let this play out just a bit more. None in our immediate circles have been targeted yet but…suppose they are? Well, it would certainly be an opportunity for our family. A chance to rise above our fallen peers, if you will."

Lloyd's eyes flashed imperceptibly for a moment. "Perhaps. But you have to be careful then. We cannot afford to make any public appearances concerning the issue. Nor can we offer explicit support to the coalition. We could be just as easily targeted as well. And then another family would assume all our gains. The heads of the other families are likely considering the same thing," Lloyd cautioned, taking another sip from his glass. _That's the convenient thing about you—no matter much power and wealth you acquire, you will still destroy each other to be on top. This alliance the families have reached in the past century is tentative at best. And easily broken when just one of them thinks he has the advantage. Or she. _"How eager to cooperate with you were they concerning the coalition?"

"Well…actually, they patently refused to participate. They were terrified of exposing themselves to Kira. Truthfully, perhaps I might have been more hesitant if you're courage hadn't inspired me to press forward. But I found it hard to believe that Kira could have truly been among them, given how afraid they seemed. Although I suppose at least one of them could have been attempting to sabotage the investigation."

Lloyd froze, suddenly feeling quite uneasy. "So where did you end up pooling the money from?" he questioned.

"The money to fund the coalition?" Salomon repeated casually. "I channeled it through various trust funds, tax-exempt foundations. The usual venues."

"But where did the money itself come from?" Llloyd pressed, feeling slightly uneasy suddenly. _This isn't right…at all_

"Well I had to loan it from the firm, of course," Salomon replied, slightly off put. "Since none of the other families would cooperate."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, concern nagging at his mind. "You mean _our _firm?" he pressed.

"Well…yes," Salomon replied, looking at him puzzled. "The industrialized economies are in such disarray right now, I thought that expecting them to raise the money was unrealistic and slow. In keeping with our family's expertise, I raised the money by drawing from the firm."

Lloyd's eyes widened and he rose up and slammed his hands on the table. _Idiot! Damned fool! _"Father what have you done?" he shouted.

Salomon froze just as he was about to swallow another mouthful, looking pensive.

"That's our family's firm!" Lloyd shouted. _That will lead him right to me!_ "If Kira _is _someone within our circle, then _we _could become his next target. You were supposed coerce the other families into joining the venture, spreading everything out so that nothing could be traced."

"Lloyd I…" Salomon stammered, a rare behavior for him to be sure. "They refused, so I—I couldn't disappoint you…and y-you seemed so brave…"

A shrill laughter could be heard emitting from Jebel's throat as she crossed her legs and hung upside down in the air, throwing her head back.

_Go ahead Jebel. See if I give you anymore cheese for a long, long time…_, Lloyd's mind seethed.

"I just don't want to see everything you've laboured for ruined is all," Lloyd covered, catching his breath as he rubbed his forehead wearily. Suddenly he became aware of a swift motion however and, looking down, he saw his father at his feet, his eyes wide, and clutching the fabric on his legs. Lloyd's face changed to one of horror mingled with disgust as he stared down at the man in shock.

"Lloyd, please, you have to stop it!" Salomon pleaded hoarsely. "You have to save us. We can't let Kira destroy us!"

"I told you I'd be here to laugh in your face when things went wrong," Jebel taunted.

Slowly, Lloyd's expression softened and he forced a warm smile. Taking him tenderly by the hand, Lloyd raised him up to his feet and gripped his shoulders firmly. "Don't worry, father. I promise that I'll…save you," he said, choosing his words carefully. "We just have to be a little bit more careful from now on, alright?"

Salomon nodded and took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "Forgive me, Lloyd," he muttered. "If you don't mind I will retreat to my quarters for the duration of the evening. I'm feeling a bit weary."

"Of course, father. Sleep well," Lloyd replied, his cool eyes following him as he exited the dining hall. Within moments one of the servants entered to collect his dishes and returned into the kitchen.

_If this L discovers that my family is essentially the source of funds for the coalition, then it will lead him straight to me. It all depends on whether he's suspicious of the coalition or not. Damn, this accelerates things considerably. But…I was trying to draw this L to me anyway. I wanted a bit more cover though. But now what do I do about the coalition? If I leave them, it could become a problem. I was planning to cut them loose soon... Thugs and spies like that don't belong in a free world anyway. If they were all to perish gathered together like that, it would be a powerful message to those who oppose me. And it would cut off L's supply once more for the time being. That could allow me to-_

"So what are you going to do now?" Jebel asked, sauntering up to him.

Lloyd sighed. "It just proves that from now on, I can't rely on anyone else to execute my plans," Lloyd replied softly. "This has become a much more dangerous game. Whatever outcomes are needed, I shall have to set up the necessary conditions myself."

…

Near lay sprawled out on the buttery leather couch, staring up at the ceiling fan slowly twirling through the air. He could hear the faint commotion of Matsuda and Ide searching through each and every cabinet and drawer, their eyes wide with wonder.

Aizawa and Lidner sat together at the small table, their sharp eyes comparing the notes from the Coalition's recent investigation. Despite the bland expressions they wore, they seemed to enjoy working together.

"Look at this Ide," Matsuda called out as he found a whole trove of wines and liquor. "You'd think we were royalty."

Ide nodded, looking at a basket full of expensive breads, cheeses and nuts. One word came to mind.

_Overkill_.

The whole place was stocked with the best wines and cuts of meat along with fresh fruits and even sweeter confections.

Matsuda was already uncorking the champagne. "A toast to the success of our investigation! Damn Kira!" he called out excitedly.

Aizawa looked up, noting his position and he froze. "Matsuda wait!" he called but it was too late.

The cork shot out their way. In one deft motion, Lidner swatted the errant cork away, but scowled as she felt warm bubbly liquid streaming down her hair. Her eyes turned toward Matsuda.

He raised his hands, blushing as a shy smile spread across his face.

Without a word she stood and left the room, her blouse soaked. Only her clenched fist told the true story of the rage she felt.

All eyes turned toward Matsuda, and they weren't pleasant eyes to behold. Matsuda swallowed hard and weakly offered the bottle, recoiling as everyone rolled their eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, he took a swig straight from the bottle and smiled, licking his lips.

Soon another figure entered the room, however, and they were greeted by Rester, wearing a long brown duster with a slouch hat.

"Anthony," Near greeted in his usual dry candor, his feet up in the air.

Rester nodded to them all as he set a large black briefcase on the table. "Where's Lidner?" he asked.

After a moment of awkward silence, Matsuda answered. "She's…freshening up in the restroom," he managed.

"Well she needs to hear this. I finally have the information you requested Near," he explained, laying the hat on the table, exposing his cropped blonde hair. "But they were more secretive than Freemasons at initiation about it."

Lidner entered the room and took her seat. "Hey Rester," she called. Everyone gathered around and Rester cleared his throat, eyeing her wet blouse suspiciously.

"What about Gevanni?" Ide asked, turning towards Near.

"I'll keep him updated," Near assured him. "Right now he's still too busy with the Coalition to be here, but if Anthony has what I think he does, we won't need to bother with them anymore."

"The funding for the Coalition was channeled through several tax-exempt foundations—Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Endowment For World Peace, Ford Foundation and plenty of others," Rester began, unlatching his brief case and taking out several papers. "Not very informative given the diversified nature. However, I knew you'd want me to look into the money itself. It was loaned from the an investment bank that I'd never heard of before—M.A. Bauer and Family. It's privately-owned by a single family—the de Bauers." Rester paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

Near raised an eyebrow. "And who are they?"

"You have no idea how hard it was to answer that question as well," Rester replied. "From what I can tell, they are a very old family, quite wealthy, based in England, and heavily involved in matters of international finance. Their bank advises some of the most important companies, largest governments and wealthiest families in the world."

"No wait," Aizawa countered, flipping through a folder of loose material. "We already looked at the de Bauers. Their wealth is too modest according to Near's theory—only about 1.5 billion."

Matsuda crossed his arms, turning toward Rester.

"I didn't say Kira was one of the de Bauers. But they were the ones who ultimately funded the Coalition," Rester replied, tossing his brown duster on the table and running a hand through his hair.

"We can't ignore this information," Near announced, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. "We have to investigate this family further. I agree with Mr. Aizawa that 1.5 billion seems too small a sum, but their involvement is too suspicious to ignore. People, we have our next target—the de Bauer family of Britain and the M.A. Bauer and Family investment bank. I will have Gevanni directly confront the de Bauers this time and ask far more pointed questions. And I will be listening in and giving Gevanni's script. We will soon know whether or not this family warrants further attention. Thank you for your hard work, Rester."

Rester nodded, taking a seat on the couch.


End file.
